A reassuring nighttime read featuring a playful role reversal.
Sometimes even adults need a little extra bedtime spoiling.
Today was a busy day for this very active grandmother. She taught yoga and Pilates, returned books, shopped, cleaned, and spent time with her grandchild: playing cards, supervising violin practice, singing karaoke, dancing…the list goes on and on! Grandma is yawning and starting to pout from fatigue. Her hip aches, and she hopes her grandchild can “be Grandma” by taking charge of their bedtime rituals: massaging Grandma’s neck, scratching her back, giving her a hug, preparing a bedtime snack, making shadow puppets on the wall, reading “a story—not once, but twice,” and wishing on the stars for sweet dreams. Though Grandma asks the little one to assume the adult role, illustrations show Grandma guiding the activities and the child initiating age-appropriate actions like turning off the lights. When the child is too tired to be the grandmother, Grandma stretches and puts the little one to bed with a kiss and a promise to “love you wherever you are.” Rhyming couplets create a soothing bedtime story accompanied by detailed illustrations in soft colors that exude calm as they capture the pair’s joyful relationship. Grandma wears large blue glasses and has short curly gray hair, and the child has dark brown hair cut in a chin-length bob. Both are brown-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A reassuring nighttime read featuring a playful role reversal. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 14, 2023
ISBN: 9781250814364
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: Nov. 28, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Still, preschoolers will likely savor this mouthwatering treatment of a subject that looms large in many early school...
The familiar theme of the challenges facing a new kid in town is given an original treatment by photographer Border in this book of photos of three-dimensional objects in a simple modeled landscape.
Peanut Butter is represented by a slice of white bread spread with the popular condiment. The other characters in the story—a hamburger with a pair of hot dogs in tow, a bowl of alphabet soup, a meatball jumping a rope of spaghetti, a carton of French fries and a pink cupcake—are represented by skillfully crafted models of these foods, anthropomorphized using simple wire construction. Rejected by each character in turn in his search for playmates, Peanut Butter discovers in the end that Jelly is his true match (not Cupcake, as the title suggests), perhaps because she is the only one who looks like him, being a slice of white bread spread with jelly. The friendly foods end up happily playing soccer together. Some parents may have trouble with the unabashedly happy depiction of carbs and American junk food (no carrots or celery sticks in this landscape), and others may find themselves troubled by the implication that friendship across difference is impossible.
Still, preschoolers will likely savor this mouthwatering treatment of a subject that looms large in many early school experiences. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: July 29, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-399-16773-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2014
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
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)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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