Both reassuring for those with diabetes and educational for those around them.
Follow along on Maddie’s first day back at school after a diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes.
Maddie is understandably nervous; she’s had a lot to learn and process. The very first page explains Type 1 diabetes: “Her body stopped making insulin, which turns sugar in food into energy.” And on the next spread, readers see Maddie using her insulin pump and continuous glucose monitor and explaining them (in fairly adult language) to her younger brother. Packing for school is a bit complicated, what with the extra snacks and juice and backups for her monitor. Being prepared for her classmates’ questions is another matter. Her friend Brianna’s sister has diabetes, so she can answer many of the kids’ questions, much to Maddie’s relief. And Luis, whose grandfather has the disease, stands up for her when she needs a juice in art class and prompts her to cover up her CGM at a soccer game to avoid more questions. Di Gravio’s illustrations capture emotions clearly, from Maddie’s uncertainty and Brianna’s matter-of-fact support to the curiosity, jealousy, and tendency to think the worst displayed by some of Maddie’s diverse classmates. Maddie and her family are light skinned, Brianna has dark skin, and Luis is Latinx. Marsh’s note describes her own connection to diabetes and her wish that no one should feel as though they are dealing with it alone.
Both reassuring for those with diabetes and educational for those around them. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-8075-4703-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones.
Not even the arrival of autumn can cool down this impetuous squirrel.
Although Squirrel is skeptical about Bird’s vegetable patch (“Nothing is HAPPENING!”), Bird does produce five (count them) lovely pumpkins. Squirrel picks out a favorite: “The enormous orange one.” Bird hints that Squirrel might want to help out; Squirrel sets out to fetch some work gloves and returns to find only four pumpkins. The frequently distracted Squirrel notices more gourds disappearing and leaps to the conclusion that a thief is near. And where’s Bird?! Has Squirrel’s pal also been taken? Diligently detecting, Squirrel finds clues—peck marks, footprints, and more—and produces a sketch of the suspect. As readers will guess, each clue turns out to point to one of Squirrel and Bird’s friends. Turns out Bird was delivering pumpkins to their pals while saving the big one to give to “my very best friend,” Squirrel. But why does Squirrel haul it up a tree? “So the Pumpkin Thief can’t find it, of course!” A page of pumpkin facts provides the learning component common to all titles in this series. Once more, readers will enjoy the pleasure of prediction and repetition, Squirrel’s silly persistence, Bird’s generosity, and the vibrant color illustrations, balancing orange with green.
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 28, 2026
ISBN: 9781464268076
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2026
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
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
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