Sweet but lackluster attempts at social-emotional learning.
The animals of the Forever Friends Farm learn the value of sharing.
Introduced in Forever Kind (2025), supporting characters P.J. the goose and Winston the mouse take center stage as they explore the forest near their farm. Spying a spot where they and their pals can play, they clear away leaves and sticks. P.J. and Winston are eager to show their friends their new space, but when everyone heads over to the forest together, they’re surprised and disappointed to see the leaves and sticks again piled up in the middle of the glade. A group of red, tan, and brown squirrels appear, led by a purple squirrel named Pearl (like the necklace she wears), who explains that they use the leaves as beds. A sudden thunderstorm interrupts the discussion and sends everyone running to the barn. Grateful that the farm animals were willing to share their space, Pearl instantly decides to reciprocate and share the squirrels’ forest spot. The narrative arc is short, with the conflict resolved unrealistically speedily; P.J. and Winston never acknowledge that they did, however inadvertently, take over the squirrels’ space. The language is generally concise and phonetic (with exceptions like squirrels), if a bit bland. The uneven rhythm throughout is challenging, since natural accents are displaced, but occasional rhymes (sticks/fix; squirrel/Pearl) help. Full-color, Disney-esque images fill the pages; sporting cute accessories, the animals have large googly eyes, wide smiles, and quasi-human grips and gestures.
Sweet but lackluster attempts at social-emotional learning. (QR code for a song) (Early reader. 4-7)Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9781223188867
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Paw Prints Publishing/Baker & Taylor
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
Pigeon finds something better to drive than some old bus.
This time it’s Santa delivering the fateful titular words, and with a “Ho. Ho. Whoa!” the badgering begins: “C’mon! Where’s your holiday spirit? It would be a Christmas MIRACLE! Don’t you want to be part of a Christmas miracle…?” Pigeon is determined: “I can do Santa stuff!” Like wrapping gifts (though the accompanying illustration shows a rather untidy present), delivering them (the image of Pigeon attempting to get an oversize sack down a chimney will have little ones giggling), and eating plenty of cookies. Alas, as Willems’ legion of young fans will gleefully predict, not even Pigeon’s by-now well-honed persuasive powers (“I CAN BE JOLLY!”) will budge the sleigh’s large and stinky reindeer guardian. “BAH. Also humbug.” In the typically minimalist art, the frustrated feathered one sports a floppily expressive green and red elf hat for this seasonal addition to the series—but then discards it at the end for, uh oh, a pair of bunny ears. What could Pigeon have in mind now? “Egg delivery, anyone?”
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781454952770
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
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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
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