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AROUND THE CLOCK

Name: AROUND THE CLOCK
Author: Roz Chast
ISBN: 978-1-4169-8476-4

by Roz Chast ; illustrated by Roz Chast ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 13, 2015

Entertaining nonsense.

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All kinds of things can happen in a 24-hour period.

A series of common-sense–challenged characters engage in some odd behaviors that range from merely messy through weird to downright grotesque. Beginning at 6 a.m., when Pete sips a drink, and moving through the day and night in hourly increments, readers meet Hazel Jane and her 100 marbles, Lynn and her imaginary friend, the odiferous Shelley and an assortment of other strange people. It finishes with Pete again, having nightmares from 5 a.m. to 6 a.m. Each activity is described in rhyming couplets that range from the simplistic “up/cup” to the tortured “muse/chartreuse” and only hint at what is actually happening. In a style similar to that of Steven Kellogg, Chast’s ink-and-watercolor cartoon illustrations are filled with all the detail that is omitted from the text. Pete has turned his kitchen into a disaster area of spilled food and dinosaur toys, while Hazel Jane is dropping marbles down the drain one by one. Steve has set the dinner table with the usual dishes and cutlery, but he has added a hammer, saw, scissors and more. All the characters have round bug eyes and appear permanently startled. Young readers will have fun examining these vignettes many times to find new and amusing elements.

Entertaining nonsense. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-4169-8476-4

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Atheneum

Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2014

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS

- BOOK REVIEW
TIRED TOWN
by Patricia Marx ; illustrated by Roz Chast

- BOOK REVIEW
NO FAIR! NO FAIR!
by Calvin Trillin ; illustrated by Roz Chast

- BOOK REVIEW
MARCO GOES TO SCHOOL
by Roz Chast & illustrated by Roz Chast

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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
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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A BIKE LIKE SERGIO'S

by Maribeth Boelts ; illustrated by Noah Z. Jones ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 4, 2016

Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on...

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Continuing from their acclaimed Those Shoes (2007), Boelts and Jones entwine conversations on money, motives, and morality.

This second collaboration between author and illustrator is set within an urban multicultural streetscape, where brown-skinned protagonist Ruben wishes for a bike like his friend Sergio’s. He wishes, but Ruben knows too well the pressure his family feels to prioritize the essentials. While Sergio buys a pack of football cards from Sonny’s Grocery, Ruben must buy the bread his mom wants. A familiar lady drops what Ruben believes to be a $1 bill, but picking it up, to his shock, he discovers $100! Is this Ruben’s chance to get himself the bike of his dreams? In a fateful twist, Ruben loses track of the C-note and is sent into a panic. After finally finding it nestled deep in a backpack pocket, he comes to a sense of moral clarity: “I remember how it was for me when that money that was hers—then mine—was gone.” When he returns the bill to her, the lady offers Ruben her blessing, leaving him with double-dipped emotions, “happy and mixed up, full and empty.” Readers will be pleased that there’s no reward for Ruben’s choice of integrity beyond the priceless love and warmth of a family’s care and pride.

Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on children. (Picture book. 5-8)