Sophie’s negativity is a definite turnoff, though Steven and his problem-solving are delightful.
A little girl’s friendship with the two squash she grew in her garden (Bernice’s twin babies from Sophie’s Squash, 2013) gets in the way of a friendship with a real child when Sophie starts school.
Steven Green, a black boy, won’t leave Sophie, a white girl, alone. He sits by her, follows her, and makes all kinds of overtures of friendship. But she rebuffs him, stating that gourds Bonnie and Baxter are all the friends she needs. But readers will catch on pretty quickly that though Sophie seems like one huge bad attitude, with her scowly face, upturned nose, and snootiness, she is beginning to see the value of human friends—she just doesn’t know quite how to reach out to them. But “friends” doesn’t include Steven, especially after she has to put her squash in their winter bed and Steven accidentally tears Sophie’s picture of them. But then Marvin, Steven’s stuffed frog, and Sophie’s parents help the stubborn girl learn that “sometimes growing a friend just takes time.” Wilsdorf’s illustrations, done in watercolor and China ink, provide few clues to the question Miller generates in the text: why in the world is an upbeat and happy kid like Steven so intent on being friends with such a contrary girl? Roshni, seemingly South Asian, and Steven are the only two children of color in the class, and Ms. Park, their teacher, is black.
Sophie’s negativity is a definite turnoff, though Steven and his problem-solving are delightful. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: June 28, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-553-50944-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
From curds to riches, from meltdown to uplift—this multicourse romp delivers.
A winning wheel of cheddar with braggadocio to match narrates a tale of comeuppance and redemption.
From humble beginnings among kitchen curds living “quiet lives of pasteurization,” the Big Cheese longs to be the best and builds success and renown based on proven skills and dependable results: “I stuck to the things I was good at.” When newcomer Wedge moves to the village of Curds-on-Whey, the Cheese’s star status wobbles and falls. Turns out that quiet, modest Wedge is also multitalented. At the annual Cheese-cathlon, Wedge bests six-time winner Cheese in every event, from the footrace and chess to hat making and bread buttering. A disappointed Cheese throws a full-blown tantrum before arriving at a moment of truth: Self-calming, conscious breathing permits deep relief that losing—even badly—does not result in disaster. A debrief with Wedge “that wasn’t all about me” leads to further realizations: Losing builds empathy for others; obsession with winning obscures “the joy of participating.” The chastened cheddar learns to reserve bragging for lifting up friends, because anyone can be the Big Cheese. More didactic and less pun-rich than previous entries in the Food Group series, this outing nevertheless couples a cheerful refrain with pithy life lessons that hit home. Oswald’s detailed, comical illustrations continue to provide laughs, including a spot with Cheese onstage doing a “CHED” talk.
From curds to riches, from meltdown to uplift—this multicourse romp delivers. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9780063329508
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
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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