A very welcome addition to the bedtime-story canon.
Two-time Pulitzer finalist Ruhl offers youngsters a playbook for a good night’s sleep.
In text addressed to a parent, a child offers ideas for warding off unpleasant dreams and enjoying good ones. The youngster proposes that the parent “read just one more book to me the way you always do. Then I won’t dream of dragons. Instead, I’ll dream of you.” Smart kid. In fact, this child already seems to know how to conjure up agreeable nighttime images: “Tonight I won’t have nightmares. No bad dreams for me. Instead, I’m going to dream about a hippo sipping tea.” Throughout this soothing narrative, the protagonist delivers reassuring ideas, expressed via bouncy, rhythmic verses that evoke genial, sometimes comical reveries. Importantly, the child demonstrates an ability to conquer images that might otherwise prove fearsome: “And I won’t dream of monsters hiding by that chair. That monster was a kitten—his tail was in the air!” At one point, the child decides to “choose to dream about…a dream inside a dream”—an empowering statement indeed. As morning peeps through the window, the young narrator slips off to sleep, saying, “I’m going to dream about…” This sweet book will help embolden dreamers to overcome nighttime apprehensions; kids will welcome repeat readings. Employing crayonlike textures and eye-catching imagery, the soft, muted illustrations match the text perfectly. Parent and child are pale-skinned.
A very welcome addition to the bedtime-story canon. (page for readers to write their own dreams) (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: July 22, 2025
ISBN: 9781534453296
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025
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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A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.
In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.
Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780063387843
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
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