This Swiss import is mildly amusing, but even a final twist fails to generate much excitement
A miniature child explores an apartment and makes friends with a cat.
First-person narration, generally limited to one or two sentences per double-page spread, describes the child’s investigation of potted plants, various small objects, and familiar household areas. Contrasts between the straightforward text, which has a slightly formal tone, and the lighthearted action depicted in the illustrations provide humor, which helps mitigate the book’s plotless feel. The last few pages repeat the text from the first section with small variations as the child enjoys activities with the (initially feared, now accepted) cat as companion. Small enough to dance on a roll of toilet paper, the wide-eyed, apparently white child wears a yellow shirt, black shorts, and a thimble as a hat. Some of the items will be familiar to young listeners: paper clips, keys, a safety pin; others, like the thimble, might be more obscure. Background details suggest that the apartment’s occupants are two adults and a child, obliquely raising the possibility that the small-scale adventures depicted are imaginary. The artwork has the appearance of colored-pencil drawings and features a somewhat muted palette with splashes of red, yellow, and green to enliven the pages. Levi makes the most of texture, size, and perspective to create interest. Observant readers will see the cat before it’s mentioned and may enjoy spotting the insect and arachnid that appear throughout.
This Swiss import is mildly amusing, but even a final twist fails to generate much excitement . (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-7358-4394-3
Page Count: 48
Publisher: NorthSouth
Review Posted Online: Oct. 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.
In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.
Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780063387843
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
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)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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