bookshelf

SUPER MILLY AND THE SUPER SCHOOL DAY

Name: SUPER MILLY AND THE SUPER SCHOOL DAY
Author: Stephanie Clarkson
ISBN: 978-1-5362-1726-1

by Stephanie Clarkson ; illustrated by Gwen Millward ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 15, 2021

A stalwart—but not quite super—read-aloud.

bookshelf

A show of everyday superpowers.

“Today is Superhero Day at school,” and Milly is in a costume made of “all the tinfoil, a tea towel with only one hole…a pair of my brother Joe’s underwear, and a sticker with an M.” Milly knows that real superheroes have X-ray vision or can climb buildings, and starts to feel dejected that a costume doesn’t bestow those same powers. But the slings and arrows of a typical school day give Milly a lot of opportunities to shine in the bright, kid-friendly illustrations. The M sticker can turn upside down to make a W, so William (who forgot a costume) can still participate. Milly helps one classmate with a writing prompt and another with mixing paint, and when Spider Sid makes fun of Incredible Iqbal, Super Milly is a “super good friend” and stands up for him. With the help of some sound effects, the orange-haired, white-skinned protagonist decides that “KABOOM! I am funny. ZAP! I am clever. WHIZZ! I am brave. WHAM! I am a good friend. Those are my superpowers!” (Milly’s classroom is diverse.) Kids looking for a traditional superhero adventure story will want something less mundane than this feel-good resolution, but despite the somewhat bland, one-note approach, this will be useful for teachers and parents looking for resources to inspire small acts of kindness. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10.6-by-19.6-inch double-page spreads viewed at 20.8% of actual size.)

A stalwart—but not quite super—read-aloud. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: June 15, 2021

ISBN: 978-1-5362-1726-1

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Nosy Crow

Review Posted Online: March 30, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
SLEEPING CINDERELLA AND OTHER PRINCESS MIX-UPS
by Stephanie Clarkson ; illustrated by Brigette Barrager

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)