In another of her unself-consciously oddball joys, Carlson (How About a Hug?, 2001, etc.) suggests that when life sends a downbeat in your direction you should put on a smile. Simply lifting the corners of your mouth is “easier than complaining,” notes the frog narrator of this upbeat undertaking. In a text that is a model of easy communication, the frog notes that a smile can win friends, confound bullies, and soften the hard times. A little ingenuity never hurt, either, as when you get oatmeal with prunes for breakfast: Smile, ask Mom if you can help her make chocolate chip pancakes tomorrow, and then feed the oatmeal and prunes to your baby sister when Mom is busy elsewhere. In artwork that is all elbows and charm and a bellyful of color, Carlson makes an undeniable case for grins over grumps. And if the frog’s smile looks a little strained at times, understand that taking the high road requires some effort, but it sure is worth it. Carlson knows how to make dry humor work for three-year-olds. Try that neat trick some time. It makes smiling down the bullies seem like child’s play. (Picture book. 3-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-87614-869-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Carolrhoda
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2002
Categories: CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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Children realize their dreams one step at a time in this story about growth mindset.
A child crashes and damages a new bicycle on a dark, rainy day. Attempting a wheelie, the novice cyclist falls onto the sidewalk, grimacing, and, having internalized this setback as failure, vows to never ride again but to “walk…forever.” Then the unnamed protagonist happens upon a glowing orb in the forest, a “thought rearranger-er”—a luminous pink fairy called the Magical Yet. This Yet reminds the child of past accomplishments and encourages perseverance. The second-person rhyming couplets remind readers that mistakes are part of learning and that with patience and effort, children can achieve. Readers see the protagonist learn to ride the bike before a flash-forward shows the child as a capable college graduate confidently designing a sleek new bike. This book shines with diversity: racial, ethnic, ability, and gender. The gender-indeterminate protagonist has light brown skin and exuberant curly locks; Amid the bustling secondary cast, one child uses a prosthesis, and another wears hijab. At no point in the text is the Yet defined as a metaphor for a growth mindset; adults reading with younger children will likely need to clarify this abstract lesson. The artwork is powerful and detailed—pay special attention to the endpapers that progress to show the Yet at work.
A solid if message-driven conversation starter about the hard parts of learning. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-368-02562-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion/LBYR
Review Posted Online: Dec. 8, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2020
Categories: CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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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 4, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
Categories: CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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