A lovely “goodbye” to this excellent concept series.
Pak comes full circle, completing the series of books that began with 2016’s Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn.
The author/illustrator’s nuanced introductions to seasonal transitions have been as reliable and relatable as the seasons themselves. Even the colors of the letters on the title page are apt, with cool greens and blues giving way to hot orange. A tan-skinned child with long dark hair tied back with a red bow walks outside (“Hello, spring afternoon”). Raindrops trace diagonals across the blue sky, past white clapboard houses with sloping roofs, mullioned windows, and dark shutters. As the rain stops, the landscape changes to “rolling hills” and, in the distance, a long white building. It’s a school, near a church and playground, but the narrator doesn’t pause; after all, as a sign indicates, “School’s out.” The text is a brief dialogue, apparently between the child (“Hello, fluttering butterflies”) and the natural surroundings (“Hello! We’re flying in and out of the sunrays”). Seasonal flowers introduce themselves, as do a forest’s trees and chickadees. The protagonist approaches a group of smaller, diverse children; a tan-skinned one (perhaps a sibling) runs over. It’s time to say hello to the “big setting sun” as they retrace the afternoon’s path, depicted via a bird’s-eye view, until the sunrise heralds a summer morning. Luminous illustrations deploy simplified but specific forms with well-chosen detail accompanying minimal, repetitive words, resulting in a delicately wrought, immersive experience.
A lovely “goodbye” to this excellent concept series. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9781250151735
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Godwin Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
A bit predictable but pleasantly illustrated.
Bill Martin Jr and John Archambault’s classic alphabet book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (1989) gets the Halloween treatment.
Chung follows the original formula to the letter. In alphabetical order, each letter climbs to the top of a tree. They are knocked back to the ground in a jumble before climbing up in sequence again. In homage to the spooky holiday theme, they scale a “creaky old tree,” and a ghostly jump scare causes the pileup. The chunky, colorful art is instantly recognizable. The charmingly costumed letters (“H swings a tail. / I wears a patch. J and K don / bows that don’t match”) are set against a dark backdrop, framed by pages with orange or purple borders. The spreads feature spiderwebs and jack-o’-lanterns. The familiar rhyme cadence is marred by the occasional clunky or awkward phrase; in particular, the adapted refrain of “Chicka chicka tricka treat” offers tongue-twisting fun, but it’s repeatedly followed by the disappointing half-rhyme “Everybody sneaka sneak.” Even this odd construction feels shoehorned into place, since “sneaking” makes little sense when every character in the book is climbing together. The final line of the book ends on a more satisfying note, with “Everybody—time to eat!”
A bit predictable but pleasantly illustrated. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: July 15, 2025
ISBN: 9781665954785
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
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
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