A conversation starter about physical autonomy.
Famed sex therapist, educator, and Holocaust survivor Westheimer appears as an illustrated, unnamed narrator in this title aimed at helping children grapple with issues of consent, bodily autonomy, and confidence. The closing statement, “I’m in charge of my body! My body is just right for me!” encapsulates the heart of the book, but various missteps undermine its important message. Apart from the backs of two people’s heads on the last page, Westheimer’s illustrated character is the only human to appear since text and cartoon art use anthropomorphized animals to enact the instructive scenarios; this seems like a missed opportunity to present diverse people asserting themselves and listening to others. Also unfortunate is the exclusivity the often humorous, heartfelt, and well-intentioned text inadvertently promotes with line such as “Each of us has eyes for seeing…hands for touching…arms for reaching,” and “jump up and down. Do some jumping jacks. Then stand tall and make muscles with your arms,” which ignore readers with myriad disabilities. The misfortune of that erasure is highly ironic, considering the high incidence of abuse that disabled people experience, since this book attempts to empower children to speak up and seek help in scenarios where they feel vulnerable, violated, uncomfortable, or crowded.
Potentially helpful but far too limited and exclusive in its scope. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-68115-551-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Apples & Honey Press
Review Posted Online: May 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2019
Categories: CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S RELIGIOUS FICTION
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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 4, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
Categories: CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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How do you make a new friend when an old one moves away?
Buddy (from Sorry, Grown-Ups, You Can’t Go to School, 2019, etc.) is feeling lonely. His best friend just moved across town. To make matters worse, there is a field trip coming up, and Buddy needs a bus partner. His sister, Lady, has some helpful advice for making a new pal: “You just need to find something you have in common.” Buddy loves the game Robo Chargers and karate. Surely there is someone else who does, too! Unfortunately, there isn’t. However, when a new student arrives (one day later) and asks everyone to call her Sunny instead of Alison, Buddy gets excited. No one uses his given name, either; they just call him Buddy. He secretly whispers his “real, official name” to Sunny at lunch—an indication that a true friendship is being formed. The rest of the story plods merrily along, all pieces falling exactly into place (she even likes Robo Chargers!), accompanied by Bowers’ digital art, a mix of spot art and full-bleed illustrations. Friendship-building can be an emotionally charged event in a child’s life—young readers will certainly see themselves in Buddy’s plight—but, alas, there is not much storytelling magic to be found. Buddy and his family are White, Sunny and Mr. Teacher are Black, and Buddy’s other classmates are racially diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Making friends isn’t always this easy and convenient. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-30709-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2022
Categories: CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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