I GIVE YOU THE WORLD

Name: I GIVE YOU THE WORLD
Author: Stacey McCleary
ISBN: 978-1-68010-082-2

by Stacey McCleary ; illustrated by Carmen Saldaña ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2018

The delicate, rhyming text and gorgeous, warm illustrations make this a lovely book for snuggling up with a young child on a...

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A newborn baby is introduced to the beauty of nature season by season through rhyming text and accompanying charming illustrations.

The book opens with a striking double-spread illustration depicting a bright new day, a pale-skinned newborn baby, and the light over the ocean. From there, the gentle rhyme in a parent’s voice introduces the baby to the gift of the world: the seasons’ slow change, animals in their various habitats, and the progression of day into night. McCleary’s text reads like a lullaby, lilting gently despite occasional awkward phrasing. The rhyming couplets make it an ideal bedtime story: “I give to you the day that’s done, / the fading light, the sinking sun.” Saldaña’s inviting illustrations encourage readers to pause and admire. There are opportunities to look at tiny details that go beneath the text, such as frogs eating flies, deer in the distance, and ants crawling up a blade of grass. As a lovely way to bring the story full circle, the illustration of the ocean in the morning in the beginning is echoed by the moon rising over that same ocean at the end. This book narrowly dodges the cloyingly sweet thanks to these charming illustrations, the book’s greatest strength.

The delicate, rhyming text and gorgeous, warm illustrations make this a lovely book for snuggling up with a young child on a lap . (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: March 1, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-68010-082-2

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Tiger Tales

Review Posted Online: Jan. 21, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

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HEDGEHOGS DON'T WEAR UNDERWEAR

by Marissa Valdez ; illustrated by Marissa Valdez ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2025

Sure to have little ones giggling.

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Jacques is a hedgehog with a big secret: “I wear real, bona fide underwear.”

Our narrator received a mysterious package one day; an illustration shows a pair of underwear tied to a balloon with a note “from the Universe” floating down into Jacques’ burrow. Hedgehogs don’t wear underwear, however. Will Jacques be shunned? Jacques worries but comes to a decision: “I have to wear them. When I do I feel special.” Determined, Jacques, who’s been invited to a party, makes a dramatic entrance, with undies in hand. Jacques’ declaration (“I WEAR UNDERWEAR”) is met with remarks of dismay, before another hedgehog opens up about similar fears and shows off a pair of cowboy boots. More hedgehogs introduce themselves with their own confessions. The story ends with Jacques unveiling a painting of the underwear in a gallery filled with hedgehogs wearing all sorts of attire. Though the book is simple in plot, characters, and setting, it wins in its balance of bathroom humor, dramatic storytelling, and celebrations of individual expression. French words are peppered throughout, adding to the fun without detracting from the story for those unfamiliar with the language. The cartoonish illustrations brim with fun; Valdez relies heavily on geometric shapes (triangle noses for the hedgehogs; huge circles for their eyes). Details such as speech bubbles and recurring turtle and snake characters contribute to the outlandish humor.

Sure to have little ones giggling. (Picture book. 3-5)

Pub Date: April 1, 2025

ISBN: 9781250814388

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press

Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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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)