A helpful option to spark conversations with little ones about emotions.
Practical tips for toddlers dealing with difficult feelings.
This board book tackles childhood situations such as feeling left out, becoming angry with someone, or feeling different from everyone else. In each scenario, Jin offers a useful suggestion that begins with being brave starts with…. “When you’re feeling anxious or worried, being brave starts with…taking one deep breath,” the text explains, while the accompanying illustrations show a little bear appearing nervous about jumping into the water before doing a cannonball. Notably, Jin not only identifies different emotions, but also gives readers realistic strategies for dealing with them. Rather than suggesting distractions, the text points to concrete coping skills and first steps a child might take—among them asking for help or apologizing. The illustrations depict simple, cutesy animals engaged in various scenarios. There is just enough detail to appeal to readers while keeping the focus on the action. This simplicity of the images clearly communicates how the character is feeling and, with a flip of the page, what approach they take to move forward. While there is, of course, so much nuance to all of these situations, this book serves as a starting place for young readers in identifying, discussing, and hopefully normalizing what are very common, uncomfortable feelings. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A helpful option to spark conversations with little ones about emotions. (Board book. 2-5)Pub Date: June 27, 2023
ISBN: 9781665933391
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2023
A heartwarming story about facing fears and acceptance.
A boy with wings learns to be himself and inspires others like him to soar, too.
Norman, a “perfectly normal” boy, never dreamed he might grow wings. Afraid of what his parents might say, he hides his new wings under a big, stuffy coat. Although the coat hides his wings from the world, Norman no longer finds joy in bathtime, playing at the park, swimming, or birthday parties. With the gentle encouragement of his parents, who see his sadness, Norman finds the courage to come out of hiding and soar. Percival (The Magic Looking Glass, 2017, etc.) depicts Norman with light skin and dark hair. Black-and-white illustrations show his father with dark skin and hair and his mother as white. The contrast of black-and-white illustrations with splashes of bright color complements the story’s theme. While Norman tries to be “normal,” the world and people around him look black and gray, but his coat stands out in yellow. Birds pop from the page in pink, green, and blue, emphasizing the joy and beauty of flying free. The final spread, full of bright color and multiracial children in flight, sets the mood for Norman’s realization on the last page that there is “no such thing as perfectly normal,” but he can be “perfectly Norman.”
A heartwarming story about facing fears and acceptance. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: May 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-68119-785-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
An A+ for Little E and his creator.
A petite excavator named Little E finds his place among a crew of full-sized, heavy-construction equipment working together to build a park.
The anthropomorphic Little E, with bright, friendly eyes and a cheery smile, invites readers into the story on the large-format cover. He is followed by a brown-and-white–spotted dog, which appears throughout the story as a friend to Little E. The construction vehicles arrive at an abandoned lot and begin working together to transform the property into a park. The rollicking, rhyming text names each type of rig and its function, including lots of sound effects and action verbs set in display type integrated into the illustrations: “Pusha-pusha smusha-smusha SMASH SMASH SMASH!” Little E tries to help with each step, but he is either too small or not strong enough for the task at hand. The last step of the park-construction project is the planting of a tree on an island reached by a bridge, but all the big rigs are too large to safely cross the wooden bridge. In a pitch-perfect conclusion, Little E is just the right size for the job. Dewdney, the late author/illustrator of the Llama Llama series, has constructed a solid winner for one of her final books, with an appealing main character, vibrant illustrations with varying perspectives, and an action-packed, rhyming text with sound effects just begging to be read aloud with dramatic effect.
An A+ for Little E and his creator. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: June 6, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-101-99920-2
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2017
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