Whether getting ready for school themselves or relating to the comfort of having a loved one as a guide, young readers will...
In this feel-good story, an older brother helps his younger sibling navigate the first day of circus school.
Even at regular school, the first day can seem very chaotic, and for this dark-skinned, Afro-haired sibling duo, it is no different at circus school. Beginning with choosing the right clothes (the child tries on a daredevil suit, a ringmaster’s outfit, a cat costume, and several types of clown suit) and eating a balanced breakfast (literally—it’s a teetering tower of bowls and plates), the first day is made easier for the unnamed protagonist thanks to this big brother who declares he will “show you the ropes.” With a limited palette of bright yellow, turquoise, fuchsia, and gray, these retro-flavored digital illustrations are playful and inviting, providing details that expand on the text and make literal what could be read as metaphorical. “The bus has an ENDLESS number of seats,” declares the big brother, and the illustration depicts a smiling multitude of child clowns piling out of a yellow VW Beetle. Similarly, the “tall kid” the big brother warns his sibling “not to sit behind” is an elephant. Both adults and children depicted in this unusual school are racially diverse.
Whether getting ready for school themselves or relating to the comfort of having a loved one as a guide, young readers will enjoy this upbeat twist on the genre. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: June 4, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-73526-371-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Tundra Books
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
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
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones.
Not even the arrival of autumn can cool down this impetuous squirrel.
Although Squirrel is skeptical about Bird’s vegetable patch (“Nothing is HAPPENING!”), Bird does produce five (count them) lovely pumpkins. Squirrel picks out a favorite: “The enormous orange one.” Bird hints that Squirrel might want to help out; Squirrel sets out to fetch some work gloves and returns to find only four pumpkins. The frequently distracted Squirrel notices more gourds disappearing and leaps to the conclusion that a thief is near. And where’s Bird?! Has Squirrel’s pal also been taken? Diligently detecting, Squirrel finds clues—peck marks, footprints, and more—and produces a sketch of the suspect. As readers will guess, each clue turns out to point to one of Squirrel and Bird’s friends. Turns out Bird was delivering pumpkins to their pals while saving the big one to give to “my very best friend,” Squirrel. But why does Squirrel haul it up a tree? “So the Pumpkin Thief can’t find it, of course!” A page of pumpkin facts provides the learning component common to all titles in this series. Once more, readers will enjoy the pleasure of prediction and repetition, Squirrel’s silly persistence, Bird’s generosity, and the vibrant color illustrations, balancing orange with green.
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 28, 2026
ISBN: 9781464268076
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2026
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