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...

bookshelf

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

bookshelf

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.

bookshelf

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

bookshelf

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...

bookshelf

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)