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BILLIE'S UNDERWATER ADVENTURE

Name: BILLIE'S UNDERWATER ADVENTURE
Author: Sally Rippin
ISBN: 978-1-61067-456-0

From the Billie B. Brown series

by Sally Rippin ; illustrated by Alisa Coburn ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2016

Here’s hoping this adventure will be re-created in many classrooms using a simple blue cloth and a wallop of imagination.

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Billie B. Brown’s preschool adventures continue (Billie’s Great Desert Adventure, 2016), this time in a wonderful water habitat.

Billie’s class is going on an underwater adventure. Miss Amy asks who would like to be the mermaid. Black-haired, fair-skinned Billie would love to, but she doesn’t answer quickly enough. Zara, a little girl with light-brown skin and dreadlocks, gets to be the mermaid instead. With arms crossed tight and a decided frown upon her face, Billie pouts. But then Miss Amy transforms Billie into a glittery sea creature. The allure of the sparkly fabric is too much to resist. Billie smiles. The teacher swooshes out a blue blanket, and imaginative waves roll out. “Be back in time for fruit snack!” Miss Amy calls. Billie, Zara, and Jack, a sandy-haired white boy, swim deep, deep down into a world of fish. They head to an undersea castle, where they feast on seashell cakes, starfish pies, and seaweed spaghetti. But suddenly, they are attacked by a “great gloopy sea monster!” In a solution only a creative preschool mind could muster, the three friends escape back to the safety of their classroom. Billie is a spunky heroine who runs the gamut of a youngster’s emotions.

Here’s hoping this adventure will be re-created in many classrooms using a simple blue cloth and a wallop of imagination. (Picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: March 1, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-61067-456-0

Page Count: 24

Publisher: Kane Miller

Review Posted Online: Jan. 8, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
BIG DOG, LITTLE DOG
by Sally Rippin ; illustrated by Lucinda Gifford

- BOOK REVIEW
THE WAYWARD WITCH & THE FEELINGS MONSTER
by Sally Rippin ; illustrated by Sally Rippin

- BOOK REVIEW
BILLIE'S ANIMAL HOSPITAL ADVENTURE
by Sally Rippin ; illustrated by Alisa Coburn

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THE CITY TREE

by Shira Boss ; illustrated by Lorena Alvarez ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 4, 2023

A soothing tale of a tree that helps transform a community.

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Dani forms a bond with the sole tree that is planted in their urban neighborhood.

“In front of Dani’s building was a hole. Sometimes dusty, sometimes puddly. And sometimes wild with bits of green.” A double-page spread, mostly in muted pastels, shows a foliage-free urban setting of adjoined buildings. But soon a truck pulls up, and two people plant a tree in that hole. For brown-skinned Dani, the tree is a source of joy—when birds arrive, the child is woken by their beautiful songs instead of truck noises. The tree helps predict the weather, protects Dani from “noise and grime,” and even offers friendship as the protagonist confides in it. Quiet, lyrical text describes the ways that typical urban sights and sounds change with the arrival of the tree; this is a good introduction to the concept of greening city streets for the youngest children. The text pointedly makes this tree more “special” to Dani than the more “magnificent” trees in the park. Depicting small details of lives lived inside and outside the apartments, the vibrant illustrations invite lengthy examination. The ending double-page spreads are a delightful combination of metaphors and vivid art as each season the tree continues to make the neighborhood a joyful place to live. Tranquil and calming, this is an ideal bedtime read. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A soothing tale of a tree that helps transform a community. (information on street trees, resources) (Picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: April 4, 2023

ISBN: 9780358423416

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S | CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S HEALTH & DAILY LIVING | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
UP IN THE LEAVES
by Shira Boss ; illustrated by Jamey Christoph

- PERSPECTIVES
5 Picture Books That Evoke the Wonder of Trees

THE HIPS ON THE DRAG QUEEN GO SWISH, SWISH, SWISH

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THE HIPS ON THE DRAG QUEEN GO SWISH, SWISH, SWISH

by Lil Miss Hot Mess ; illustrated by Olga de Dios ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 5, 2020

Fun, fun, fun all through the town!

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This book’s gonna werk, werk, werk all through Pride Month and beyond.

Drag persona Lil Miss Hot Mess rewrites “The Wheels on the Bus” to create a fun, movement-filled, family-friendly celebration of drag. The text opens with the titular verse to establish the familiar song’s formulaic pattern: “The hips on the drag queen go SWISH, SWISH, SWISH… / ALL THROUGH THE TOWN!” Along the way, more and more drag queens join in the celebration. The unnamed queens proudly display a range of skin tones, sizes, and body modifications to create a diverse cast of realistic characters that could easily be spotted at a Pride event or on RuPaul’s Drag Race. The palette of both costumes and backgrounds is appropriately psychedelic, and there are plenty of jewels going “BLING, BLING, BLING.” Don’t tell the queens, but the flow is the book’s real star, because it encourages natural kinetic participation that will have groups of young readers giggling and miming along with the story. Libraries and bookshops hosting drag-queen storytimes will find this a popular choice, and those celebrating LGBTQ+ heritage will also find this a useful book for the pre-K crowd. Curious children unfamiliar with a drag queen may require a brief explanation, but the spectacle stands up just fine on its own platforms.

Fun, fun, fun all through the town! (Picture book. 4-6)