Chicken Soup for the Soul KIDS: Oliver Powers Through: Helping Out at Home

by JaNay Brown-Wood, Lorian Tu (Illustrator)

Everyday heroes never take the easy way out! The Sunshine Squad learns about responsibility.

Before he can play with his friends, Oliver has to finish his chores. . . but there are so many! Sunshine Squad to the rescue! His friends help him finish his homework, clean up, and make his little sister a snack, remembering some of their own jobs along the way. Turn to the back of the book for ideas to help keep track of responsibilities.

32 pages, Hardcover

Published June 14, 2022

About the author

JaNay Brown-Wood, PhD is an award-winning children’s author, educator, and scholar. Her first book Imani’s Moon won the NAESP Children’s Book of the Year Award, and her second book Grandma’s Tiny House: A Counting Story received a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly and won the CELI Read Aloud Book Award. She has several poems published including Falling Leaves in the poetry anthology Thanku: Poems of Gratitude (Lerner/Millbrook, 2019) a Chicago Public Library’s Best Informational Books for 2019, an American Library Association Notable Children’s Book, and a Notable Children’s Book for the Global Society. She has more than seven forthcoming books including Shhh! The Baby’s Asleep (Charlesbridge, forthcoming 2021), Where in the Garden a four-book series (Peachtree, forthcoming 2021, 2022, 2023) and Jam, Too (Nancy Paulsen Books/Penguin Random House, forthcoming 2023). She is represented by the fabulous Karen Grencik of Red Fox Literary. Learn more about her here at www.janaybrownwood.com or follow her on Twitter @janaybrownwood.

Reviews

[Storywraps · Rating 5 out of 5]

This delightful book encourages kids to practice responsibility. It's not always easy to do so but it's very important to be trustworthy and fulfill your obligations.

Oliver's friends want him to come to the park with them but he has chores that he must complete before he can run off and play. His dad instructs him to complete his chores first and then he can join his friends and have fun.

"Not so fast, O-Man," Oliver's dad calls to him "You'll need to clean your room before you go outside."

"Really, Dad?" Oliver begs. "Can't I clean it later?"
But his dad says, "Rules are rules."

Oliver looks around his room and is totally overwhelmed with the size and scope of cleaning it up properly. Instead of getting it done he decides to spend the afternoon drawing. The next morning Oliver wants to go out again but the same old problem prohibits him. Luckily his friends miss him and come to his rescue. They encourage and help tidy up his messy room putting everything in their proper place.

This book is about friendship, sharing, helping out, caring and learning to fulfill your responsibilities. There is information added at the back of the book for parents to help children learn responsibility. The illustrations are colourful, vibrant and enrich the positive message.

With his friends and family's support Oliver learns to think of cleaning his room in a new way. He can make a game out of it and pretend to clean as a magician or as ... a SUPERHERO! Yes! That strategy will work out beautifully for him. I highly recommend this book.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a cute, cool book about teaching kids how to clean their rooms. Oliver is a little boy, part of the Sunshine Squad (comprised of five other kids from his building), who needs to clean up his room first before he can play with his friends. Seeing him miss out two days of fun, his friends decide to help him clean his room and share their methods to make cleaning a fun activity. The illustrations were super cute.

Thank you, NetGalley and Charlesbridge, for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chicken Soup for the Soul Kids: Oliver Powers Through: A Book about Helping Out Around the House
by JaNay Brown-Wood
A joyous look at a child using what he knows to face a personal problem. Unwilling to understand why his parents wanted him to clean his room. He finds out that with the help of his friends he can be responsible. With information for parents for to help children learn responsibility.

[Paulina M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Representation: 10
Story: 10
Illustration: 10

I love the Sunshine Squad books. They are so relatable, wholesome and positive. They encourage collaboration. Autonomy and respect.

Oliver Powers Through focuses on cleaning up one's room; in the end, it has excellent tips for parents to make it fun.

** Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the ARC in return for an honest review. **

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story of Oliver, who doesn't like to clean his room (who does?). An interesting story and moral for those who postponed cleaning up, and some tips and tricks on how to do it in more fun way. Always a treasure, these series, there are things we can learn by reading the story.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

an early elementary picture book about a boy who doesn't want to clean his room and finds inspiration in an unexpected way.

[Margaret Boling · Rating 3 out of 5]

12/11/2022 ~ Not especially to my taste (a bit didactic). However, it could start good conversations among families about tips for keeping kids' rooms organized.

[PottWab Regional Library]

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