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I IS FOR IMMIGRANTS

Name: I IS FOR IMMIGRANTS
Author: Selina Alko
ISBN: 978-1-250-23786-6

by Selina Alko ; illustrated by Selina Alko ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 15, 2021

Vibrant, vigorous, and multifaceted—just like America.

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An alphabet book that celebrates everything that immigrants have brought to the United States, from ambition to Zen.

Each letter of this exuberant and poignant alphabet book is represented by a montage of words and images that include feelings, ideas, and things that people from all over the world have brought with them to their new home. D is for Dreamers (and dreamers), dumplings, diversity, and Day of the Dead. H is for holidays, heritage, hijabs, Holi, Hanukkah, and hope. Y is for yucca, yoga, yogurt, Yiddish, yearning—and “you.” By including both the tangible and the intangible, Alko reinforces the idea that the U.S. is more than just a conglomeration of cultures; it’s a quilt of shared values. The text is hand-lettered in varying sizes, incorporated into the overall compositions, and the accompanying images are painted and collaged with verve, emphasizing a folk-art–like artistic sensibility with saturated colors, bold brush strokes, and found objects. In the concluding author’s note, Alko shares her own immigration story and reiterates that “America isn’t any one thing”—that it is both magnificent and complex. Readers from all backgrounds with have a blast looking for references to their own heritages and finding commonalities. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Vibrant, vigorous, and multifaceted—just like America. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: June 15, 2021

ISBN: 978-1-250-23786-6

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt

Review Posted Online: May 4, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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OTHERWISE KNOWN AS JUDY THE GREAT
by Selina Alko ; illustrated by Selina Alko

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THE REMEMBERING CANDLE
by Alison Goldberg ; illustrated by Selina Alko

- BOOK REVIEW
THE KEEPER OF STORIES
by Caroline Kusin Pritchard ; illustrated by Selina Alko

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LITTLE BLUE TRUCK LOST AND FOUND

From the Little Blue Truck series

by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 18, 2026

Fun times, fond friends, and a festive farmyard setting—little ones will be charmed.

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Beep! Beep! Beep! Toad and Little Blue Truck get ready for a hayride.

After the titular vehicle is loaded with hay, Toad is nowhere to be found. “Beep! Beep! Beep! Where are you, Toad?” asks Little Blue Truck. All the barnyard animals look for him. Sheep searches the meadow. Goose and Duck check the pond. Others pitch in, too, but Toad seems to have disappeared…until Hen hears snoring coming from the pile of hay in the back of Little Blue Truck. Although the text’s scansion is imperfect in places (adults may want to pre-read to ensure a smooth read-aloud), the bouncy meter and rhyming text nevertheless capture the energy of the search and the farmyard community’s concern for Toad’s safety, making this a solid storytime choice. Eye-catching illustrations with rich, fully saturated colors balance the right level of detail while still highlighting the animal that is the focus of each verse. By introducing one farm animal at a time, Schertle also helps the youngest readers begin to identify barnyard animals by name and understand their unique farm homes. Traditional animal sounds are part of the text, and listeners will add them to their vocabulary. It all ends with the promised hayride, bringing the tale to a joyous ending.

Fun times, fond friends, and a festive farmyard setting—little ones will be charmed. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: Aug. 18, 2026

ISBN: 9780063436121

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: July 20, 2026

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2026

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK AND RACER RED
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK MAKES A FRIEND
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry

- BOOK REVIEW
TIME FOR SCHOOL, LITTLE BLUE TRUCK
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph

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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)