A tale gently infused with kindness and compassion.
With a crown, wings, and a star wand, a young Jewish boy transforms into the Mitzvah Fairy.
After breakfast, the boy loads supplies into his wagon and leaves with his father and small gray dog to do good deeds for relatives and neighbors in need of cheering up. His bubbe (grandmother in Yiddish) has a case of the sniffles; she proclaims his chicken soup “delicious!” Mr. Gordon’s leg is in a cast, so the boy waters the plants and fills the bird feeder. The thoughtful child notices trash in the park and asks his dad, “Don’t we need to treat the earth with kindness too?” When his dad agrees, the two pick up the garbage and recycle what they can. The boy spots lost coins and asks if he can add them to the blue tzedakah box (a charity box, adorned with Hebrew letters). He also moves a ladybug to a safer spot where it can’t be harmed by pedestrians. Though many readers will appreciate this quiet, matter-of-fact tale of a young everyday hero doing his best, it’ll have special resonance for those familiar with Judaism. Featuring characters with oversize heads and textured backgrounds with cozy details, Battuz’s art sets a warm tone. Characters are light-skinned. The book concludes with a matching game and a list of Hebrew phrases for the Jewish values incorporated into the story.
A tale gently infused with kindness and compassion. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9798765626993
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Kar-Ben
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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