This lovely introduction to an essential topic will be a new classic.
A Black child’s walk with Granny is a neighborhood event when the destination is the voting booth.
Granny is taking her grandchild on “THE WALK,” but she doesn’t say where they are going—only that “there’s a few treasured souls coming, too.” With a backpack, water, and sandwiches, the young narrator and Granny “WALK ON,” stopping at a neighbor’s house, the barber shop, and Mrs. Wong’s. At each stop, the child wonders if they’ve reached their destination, but instead, more people from the neighborhood join their walk. At last, the crowd arrives at the child’s school—but there’s no school today. Granny reveals the reason all these “treasured souls” have walked all this way: “for hope” and to “speak up.” Bingham effectively carries readers through an important yet simple event while conveying its significance as a milestone for an individual, a family, a community, and a nation. The child’s-eye view of the day, clear prose, and strong relationships between characters make this an engrossing read, while statements about injustice are communicated subtly in comments between adult characters and the length of the walk itself—layers that can be unpacked with children who are ready to learn more. Lewis’ work is at its best here; detailed watercolor paintings immerse readers in the life of a multicultural community on a bright day. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
This lovely introduction to an essential topic will be a new classic. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2023
ISBN: 9781419747724
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2023
A flavorful call to action sure to spur young introverts.
In this latest slice in the Food Group series, Humble Pie learns to stand up to a busy friend who’s taking advantage of his pal’s hard work on the sidelines.
Jake the Cake and Humble Pie are good friends. Where Pie is content to toil in the background, Jake happily shines in the spotlight. Alert readers will notice that Pie’s always right there, too, getting A-pluses and skiing expertly just behind—while also doing the support work that keeps every school and social project humming. “Fact: Nobody notices pie when there’s cake nearby!” When the two friends pair up for a science project, things begin well. But when the overcommitted Jake makes excuse after excuse, showing up late or not at all, a panicked Pie realizes that they won’t finish in time. When Jake finally shows up on the night before the project’s due, Pie courageously confronts him. “And for once, I wasn’t going to sugarcoat it.” The friends talk it out and collaborate through the night for the project’s successful presentation in class the next day. John and Oswald’s winning recipe—plentiful puns and delightful visual jokes—has yielded another treat here. The narration does skew didactic as it wraps up: “There’s nothing wrong with having a tough conversation, asking for help, or making sure you’re being treated fairly.” But it’s all good fun, in service of some gentle lessons about social-emotional development.
A flavorful call to action sure to spur young introverts. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780063469730
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 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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