Captures the delight of a frigid day.
Fun in sub-freezing conditions.
It is exactly “twenty-three below zero,” Dad announces. Mom leaves, reminding father and son (who narrates) to dress warmly. Donning outdoor garb, the young protagonist also adopts a new nickname: “Freezeman.” Outside, the pair take part in a series of activities, some of which they set up the night before. They watch a helium balloon shrink and popped soap bubbles shed a thin skin. The child uses a frozen banana to hammer in a nail. Boiling water flung from a cup forms a snowy mist; hot maple syrup dropped into snow becomes a candy treat. Back inside, the balloon regains its shape; father and child enjoy the maple candy, along with some hot chocolate, before a roaring fire. The visuals capture the joys of winter. Blocky, printlike art shows the angular figures with berry-blue and pink hair, while clothing, cars, and houses, depicted in neon hues, seem to glow. Sometimes the editorial hand slips, however: The narrator describes putting on a scarf, though the accessory is never depicted. The book doesn’t address safety concerns about venturing out in such extreme weather. The characters’ pale faces are bare, the wind chill is forgotten, and their outdoor time isn’t measured. Still, the joy of winter comes through clearly; many readers will be eager to duplicate the pair’s experiments.
Captures the delight of a frigid day. (information on the activities mentioned) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Nov. 10, 2024
ISBN: 9781681342948
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Minnesota Historical Society Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
Nothing new here but a nonetheless congenial matriculant in publishing’s autumnal rite of back-to-school offerings.
The Crayons head back to class in this latest series entry.
Daywalt’s expository text lays out the basics as various Crayons wave goodbye to the beach, choose a first-day outfit, greet old friends, and make new ones. As in previous outings, the perennially droll illustrations and hand-lettered Crayon-speak drive the humor. The ever wrapperless Peach, opining, “What am I going to wear?” surveys three options: top hat and tails, a chef’s toque and apron, and a Santa suit. New friends Chunky Toddler Crayon (who’s missing a bite-sized bit of their blue point) and Husky Toddler Crayon speculate excitedly on their common last name: “I wonder if we’re related!” White Crayon, all but disappearing against the page’s copious white space, sits cross-legged reading a copy of H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man. And Yellow and Orange, notable for their previous existential argument about the color of the sun, find agreement in science class: Jupiter, clearly, is yellow AND orange. Everybody’s excited about art class—“Even if they make a mess. Actually…ESPECIALLY if they make a mess!” Here, a spread of crayoned doodles of butterflies, hearts, and stars is followed by one with fulsome scribbles. Fans of previous outings will spot cameos from Glow in the Dark and yellow-caped Esteban (the Crayon formerly known as Pea Green). (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Nothing new here but a nonetheless congenial matriculant in publishing’s autumnal rite of back-to-school offerings. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: May 16, 2023
ISBN: 9780593621110
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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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