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A HOT CUP OF CHOCOLATE

Name: A HOT CUP OF CHOCOLATE
Author: Rose Stanley
ISBN: 978-1-76036-019-1

From the Emotions in Motion series

by Rose Stanley ; illustrated by Lisa Allen ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2016

A useful tale of a boy’s attempts to help a friend whose parents are separating.

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Can hot chocolate help solve a problem?

Johan loves hot chocolate. The red-haired white boy drinks it when he’s cold, when he’s exercising, and when he’s sick. He also likes to share it with his parents, his sister, and his friend Henry (also light-skinned but with curly black hair). The boys are sharing a cup of chocolate when Johan senses that his mother is getting serious news via the telephone. It turns out that Henry’s parents have decided not to live together anymore, so Henry spends extra time with Johan, and hot chocolate is always present. The chocolate symbolizes comfort and sharing, two attributes the compassionate Johan is always ready to offer up. The goal here is to point out, with some subtlety, that simply spending time with a child undergoing a difficult situation can provide much-needed support, and in this way, the book is successful and may be quite useful to children helping their friends deal with divorce. However, the story itself is not at the forefront here, so the book serves as an instructional vehicle to bolster empathy and gently impart social-emotional skills rather than an engaging tale on its own. Children may still benefit from Johan’s example of patience and kindness, and the book opens up the topic of divorce with sensitivity for further discussion.

A useful tale of a boy’s attempts to help a friend whose parents are separating. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: June 1, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-76036-019-1

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Starfish Bay

Review Posted Online: April 12, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

- BOOK REVIEW
TILLY'S BIG PROBLEM
by Rose Stanley ; illustrated by Lisa Allen

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LITTLE BLUE TRUCK AND RACER RED

From the Little Blue Truck series

by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 25, 2025

A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.

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In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.

Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”

A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: March 25, 2025

ISBN: 9780063387843

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK MAKES A FRIEND
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry

- BOOK REVIEW
TIME FOR SCHOOL, LITTLE BLUE TRUCK
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK'S VALENTINE
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph

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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)