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48 GRASSHOPPER ESTATES

Name: 48 GRASSHOPPER ESTATES
Author: Sara de Waal
ISBN: 978-1-77321-484-9

by Sara de Waal ; illustrated by Erika Medina ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 13, 2021

A cute meet-cute.

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A girl spreads cheer through her apartment building, then finds a new friend who’s just right for her.

Sicily Bridges, a brown-skinned girl with puffy hair, can “make almost anything”: a snack, a musical instrument, a dragon, a boat. Sicily’s mum leaves early for work; as the smell of Mrs. Rubenstein’s oatmeal wafts in, Sicily sits in bed jotting down ideas for inventions in her journal. When Mrs. Rubenstein, a gray-haired White woman, comes knocking and asks what Sicily will make today, Sicily decides each of her inventions would be better with a friend, so she adds “a friend” to her list. On a wordless spread, Sicily collects items from the recycling room and giveaway boxes in the hall, then returns to her apartment—without noticing the Asian boy who is also gathering supplies. Sicily makes a bunch of “friends” with her finds while the boy, pictured on alternate pages or in the same view, makes a large rocket ship that he dangles out his window. While Sicily visits neighbors, several of whom are elderly, offering her creations to them, the boy’s project breaks. The children discover each other just in time to fix his “blaster-offer” together. De Waal’s rhythmic prose and cyclical storytelling are delightful, and Medina’s energetic characters and warm palette are charming. Though a few of the visually split scenes are a bit awkwardly handled, readers will enjoy putting two and two together before the characters do.

A cute meet-cute. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: April 13, 2021

ISBN: 978-1-77321-484-9

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Annick Press

Review Posted Online: Dec. 24, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
THE BIGGEST SMALLEST THING
by Sara de Waal ; illustrated by Ana Stretcu

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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
A PERFECT PLACE TO PLAY
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Jim Valeri

- 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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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)