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ROCK PAPER SCISSORS CHEESE

Name: ROCK PAPER SCISSORS CHEESE
Author: W. Kamau Bell
ISBN: 9781250433701

by W. Kamau Bell & Adam Mansbach ; illustrated by Breanna Chambers ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 27, 2026

An amusing paean to the remedial possibilities of creative thinking.

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In this collaboration from comedian Bell and Go the Fuck to Sleep (2011) author Mansbach, a grumpy family attempts to find some fun.

“It was raining, and had been / for what felt like forever. / And the Bell family found themselves / cooped up together.” Before the family—who resemble co-author Bell, his real-life wife, and their three daughters—can drive one another bonkers, the youngest Bell has a brainstorm: “Sometimes, she thought, / nothing else quite delivers / like the old-school fun / of rock, paper, scissors.” Two sisters give the classic hand game a whirl, which leads to a standoff that’s interrupted when their older sister informs them that they’re playing the game wrong: In addition to “rock,” “paper,” and “scissors,” there’s “hitchhiker” (“Paper beats hitchhiker…because it’s an unpaid parking ticket”), “coyote” (“Coyote beats hitchhiker; she can just bite him”), and so on. The whole family gets into the spirit, introducing increasingly preposterous variables to the game, including “Primetime Emmy!” (Bell has several.) The good rhymes harbor a good message about beating the doldrums by flexing one’s creative muscles. Chambers’ cartoony art captures both the story’s intrafamilial tenderness and the siblings’ stir-craziness, which is often shown to (one assumes) exaggerated effect, as when a raging sister roller-skates through the house wielding an electric guitar that’s on fire. Like their real-life counterparts, Dada is Black, Mama is white, and the children are biracial.

An amusing paean to the remedial possibilities of creative thinking. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Oct. 27, 2026

ISBN: 9781250433701

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press

Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
by Adam Mansbach & Alan Zweibel ; illustrated by Neil Swaab

- BOOK REVIEW
JAKE THE FAKE KEEPS IT REAL
by Craig Robinson & Adam Mansbach ; illustrated by Keith Knight

- BOOK REVIEW
SERIOUSLY, YOU HAVE TO EAT
by Adam Mansbach ; illustrated by Owen Brozman

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
A PERFECT PLACE TO PLAY
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Jim Valeri

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

- BOOK REVIEW
FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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IT'S NOT EASY BEING A GHOST

From the It's Not Easy Being series

by Marilyn Sadler ; illustrated by Stephanie Laberis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 13, 2024

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.

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A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.

Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)