by Dan Yaccarino ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 2, 2017
Plot holes may mar the story a bit, but there’s plenty to dig anyway.
Morris strikes out on his own in this story about an anthropomorphic, iconoclast mole.
Smaller than the rest and clad in a dapper suit rather than miners’ gear, Morris Mole’s suggestion falls on deaf ears when he voices an idea to improve his fellow moles’ lot. While his brothers’ focus is on digging ever deeper underground to find scarce food, Morris Mole decides to tunnel up through the earth. “I may be small, but I can do big things,” he tells himself as he digs deep within himself to find courage. When he emerges aboveground he finds a wonderland of not only food, but bird song, flowers, and friendly passers-by. An encounter with a fox almost dooms Morris, but then he (rather implausibly) saves the fox from a wolf, who, for some odd reason, just lets him be. This plot twist seems rather forced and lacking in logic, but the grateful fox then rallies others to collect a veritable feast for Morris Mole to bring back to his underground family. Yaccarino’s digital illustrations are bold and graphic, and they do an excellent job of contrasting the under- and aboveground worlds that Morris Mole traverses in his adventure of individuality and community.
Plot holes may mar the story a bit, but there’s plenty to dig anyway. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: May 2, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-241107-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2017
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by Margie Palatini illustrated by Dan Yaccarino
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by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016
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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by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings
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by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino
by Christina Geist ; illustrated by Tim Bowers ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 12, 2022
Making friends isn’t always this easy and convenient.
How do you make a new friend when an old one moves away?
Buddy (from Sorry, Grown-Ups, You Can’t Go to School, 2019, etc.) is feeling lonely. His best friend just moved across town. To make matters worse, there is a field trip coming up, and Buddy needs a bus partner. His sister, Lady, has some helpful advice for making a new pal: “You just need to find something you have in common.” Buddy loves the game Robo Chargers and karate. Surely there is someone else who does, too! Unfortunately, there isn’t. However, when a new student arrives (one day later) and asks everyone to call her Sunny instead of Alison, Buddy gets excited. No one uses his given name, either; they just call him Buddy. He secretly whispers his “real, official name” to Sunny at lunch—an indication that a true friendship is being formed. The rest of the story plods merrily along, all pieces falling exactly into place (she even likes Robo Chargers!), accompanied by Bowers’ digital art, a mix of spot art and full-bleed illustrations. Friendship-building can be an emotionally charged event in a child’s life—young readers will certainly see themselves in Buddy’s plight—but, alas, there is not much storytelling magic to be found. Buddy and his family are White, Sunny and Mr. Teacher are Black, and Buddy’s other classmates are racially diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Making friends isn’t always this easy and convenient. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-30709-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2022
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by Christina Geist ; illustrated by Tim Bowers
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by Christina Geist ; illustrated by Tim Bowers
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