A simple, sweet tome that will likely appeal to very young learners.
Magical creatures guide readers through various actions in McGonigal’s debut interactive picture book.
Aria, a dragon, and Sapphire, a butterfly, find themselves lost after visiting The Forest of Sparkles. They ask readers to shake the book so they can get back home to the Enchanted Forest. There, they encounter their fish friend, Finn. Aria and Sapphire ask readers to clap, run, and greet Finn loudly. They also say that “banging on the floor with your hands, like a drum” will help Finn swim home quickly. Next, Sapphire urges readers to “spin around three times” to help her fly. Aria also requires assistance because her wings lost their sparkles; readers are requested to “jump up and down three times” and “sing the sparkle song,” a short chant on the following page. The book concludes with a rhyming goodbye. The emphasis on audience participation makes this book best suited as a classroom read-aloud as opposed to a quiet bedtime story. The integrated elements that focus on motor and cognitive skills are clever, and the colorful, whimsically executed illustrations offer much-needed clarification. Because there are two narrators, the first-person perspective can become confusing, particularly as Aria and Sapphire use “we” statements while also referencing each other by name. Dialogue tags would also have been helpful.
A simple, sweet tome that will likely appeal to very young learners.Pub Date: Oct. 24, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5255-3230-6
Page Count: 28
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: Dec. 18, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
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