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ETTA EXTRAORDINAIRE

Name: ETTA EXTRAORDINAIRE
Author: Roda Ahmed
ISBN: 9780063295711

by Roda Ahmed & Charnaie Gordon ; illustrated by Chloe Burgett ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 17, 2023

For the little divas who need a little nudge to perform as big as their dreams.

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A young girl must overcome stage fright.

The first thing you must know about Etta Extraordinaire is that she is nothing less than fab-tacular, complete with a feather boa and pearls from her late Grandma Bess. “She can pluck a poem out of thin air, make a megaphone from old magazines, and can always find a lucky penny.” When the young Black girl finds a note for the school’s talent show, her visions of grandeur go into overdrive—until she remembers, with butterflies in her tummy, that she’s never performed onstage before. Etta puts in motion a four-step plan to make the ordinary extraordinary. Scrounging up supplies from around her home, Etta creates a makeshift stage, practices, finds a costume, and puts on a show in her own room. But belting out tunes onstage in front of people is a different story. When the big moment arrives, our on-the-fly diva has no plan for a case of the jitters. Just as she’s shaking in her lucky pearls, she takes a deep breath, opens her eyes, and suddenly gets a much-needed boost from the ones who love and support her. The digital illustrations are sprightly and vivid, filling each page with details to entertain the eyes, while the story will speak to anyone who’s ever been wracked by performance anxiety.

For the little divas who need a little nudge to perform as big as their dreams. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Oct. 17, 2023

ISBN: 9780063295711

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS

- BOOK REVIEW
DANIEL'S DREAM
by Daniel Humm & Roda Ahmed ; illustrated by Diana Pedott

- BOOK REVIEW
ETTA EXTRAORDINAIRE GOES TO THE WHITE HOUSE
by Roda Ahmed & Charnaie Gordon ; illustrated by Chloe Burgett

- BOOK REVIEW
MAE AMONG THE STARS
by Roda Ahmed ; illustrated by Stasia Burrington

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: June 21, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
A PERFECT PLACE TO PLAY
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Jim Valeri

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

- BOOK REVIEW
FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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IT'S NOT EASY BEING A GHOST

From the It's Not Easy Being series

by Marilyn Sadler ; illustrated by Stephanie Laberis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 13, 2024

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.

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A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.

Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)