Gentle encouragement to embrace life’s inevitable changes.
Life moves forward, sometimes back.
Ophelia, narrating in first-person present tense, loves Jackson, a neighbor’s dog who, attached to a clothesline, runs back and forth each day. When he disappears, heartbroken Ophelia draws a “magic hopscotch” grid on the ground, hopping on it forward and backward and wishing for his return. Ophelia and family, who “move all the time,” leave because Dad needs to look for a new job. Outside their dilapidated new cabin, imaginative Ophelia spies giant rabbits and “crow-witches.” On the first day of school, Ophelia encounters an “ogre” (the crossing guard) and a brown-skinned “fairy princess” (the teacher) who speak French, which Ophelia doesn’t understand. Ever mindful Ophelia draws Jackson’s portrait and creates a hopscotch grid on which everyone plays. That night, while dreaming, Ophelia is able, at last, to bid Jackson “au revoir.” After another move, far from the scary creatures, Ophelia’s language skills blossom, and the child soars, confident that “I will learn to fly!” This poignant story is about taking tentative first steps toward independence. The hopscotch drawings are artful but vague metaphors for life’s shifting fortunes; they suggest one moves both forward and backward along life’s path. This lofty notion, also conveyed through Jackson’s movements and the family’s frequent address changes, may go over kids’ heads, though the cheery, stylized illustrations are lively, delicate, and airy. The protagonist has light skin; classmates are diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Gentle encouragement to embrace life’s inevitable changes. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2023
ISBN: 9781773068435
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
SEEN & HEARD
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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