Odd but sweet
A girl and a coin that share a dream each find it realized.
Emma trains hard to realize her dream of “becoming a great diver. When she LEAPT from the board, anything felt possible!” However, the training does not always go smoothly (illustrated with an inadvertent back flop that will have many readers’ shoulder blades burning in sympathy). Dejected, she picks up a penny that catches her eye—and that evening the penny watches diving on TV, and “a dream blossomed in its tiny heart.” Unaware of the penny’s sentience, Emma tries to give it away and to spend it, but no one wants a penny. As it watches Emma train it realizes that, without limbs, diving is “a silly dream for a penny to have.” However, the morning of the competition, Emma tosses it into a fountain for good luck—and goes on to earn perfect 10s. Carratello illustrates her wry little tale with stylized cartoons dominated by matte turquoise, lavender, and pink. Images of the penny’s fantasy life are amusing, in particular a vertical succession of vignettes in which it executes a perfect pike. If it all seems just a little twee, it is nevertheless executed with apparently perfect sincerity. The story takes place in Italy; Emma, her family, and most of her diving teammates are white (actually pink), but numerous characters of color in the background attest to the country’s multiculturalism.
Odd but sweet . (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 7, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-911171-61-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Flying Eye Books
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
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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