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TÍO AND TÍO

Name: TÍO AND TÍO
Author: Ross Mathews
ISBN: 9780593752586

THE RING BEARERS

by Ross Mathews & Wellinthon García-Mathews ; illustrated by Tommy Doyle ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 15, 2025

Pure dulce.

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For their debut picture book, TV host Mathews—best known for appearing on The Drew Barrymore Show—and his husband, educator García-Mathews, draw inspiration from their 2022 wedding.

The flight from New York to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, is a long one, but Evan and little brother Andy need time to brace themselves for their roles as the ring bearers in the upcoming wedding of their Tío Welly and their new tío, Ross. After they land in Mexico, where the air feels “thick and humid and smell[s] like sweet flowers,” Mami and Papi explain their wedding-day duties: The brothers will walk down the aisle to present the rings to their uncles…in front of everyone! After the boys find a safe place to store the rings, they dance the night away at the pre-wedding party. They meet their tíos’ guests, including confident, pint-size flower girl Drew (a child version of Barrymore, who was the flower girl at the authors’ actual ceremony and who penned the book’s foreword). That night, bad dreams about the big day plague the brothers. Will Evan and Andy step up for their beloved tíos? The authors serve up pure comfort, combining coziness with low-stakes antics. Though the wordy narrative is a tad overwrought in spots, the focus on familia stands out in the end. Doyle’s pencil-etched digital illustrations flash bright colors and smiling faces amid a tropical paradise. Mami and Tío Welly are Dominican, while Tío Ross reads white.

Pure dulce. (photos from the authors’ wedding) (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: April 15, 2025

ISBN: 9780593752586

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Penguin Workshop

Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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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

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by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Jim Valeri

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

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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)