From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 2–In this poetic ode, girls cavort, play, get dirty, perform daring deeds, misbehave, and even terrorize some boys. Davies has penned some simple rhymes often consisting of one or two words: "Bright girls,/Fun girls,/Soaking up the sun girls./Singing./Swinging./Barefoot-in-the springing." While some lines may confuse the youngest readers (such as "Inking./Plinking…."), most of the text reads aloud with an air as confident as the youngsters depicted. The art fluidly captures these lines. The round-faced and slightly retro-looking heroines depicted across the spreads express the wide and varied experiences of girls joyfully exploring their world.–
Rachel G. Payne, Brooklyn Public Library, NY Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
K-Gr. 2. Simple, rhyming verse and color-saturated, stylized, cartoonlike illustrations celebrate being a girl in this upbeat if inconsistent picture book. From "Wild girls, / Free girls, / Happy as can be girls" riding a pony in the desert to "Great girls, / Brave girls" atop a mountain peak, pictures feature multicultural if generic-looking characters living big dreams and experiencing happy times. Occasionally, the art and text don't gel. The picture accompanying "Loud girls, / Proud girls, / Stand out in a crowd girls" features miniaturized characters and settings from previous illustrations brought together in a double-page landscape--no crowds, nothing expressing
loud. Sometimes, even with the illustrations, word choices may be confusing: "Inking / Plinking" for writing and playing the piano. Bold girls walk in space, while smart girls, who wear glasses, pilot the rocket; boys are absent except when they are pictured fleeing from "Fighting / Frighting" girls. Confidence inspiring and a celebration of gender, yes; but not particularly inclusive or encouraging about finding one's place among others.
Shelle RosenfeldCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
