Stepping outside your front door can be scary when you don't know how the world will treat you and those you love.
A child and their Abuelita—both brown-skinned and cued as Latinx—love spending the day together. But the world outside is a different story. Not everyone knows how special Abuelita is; sometimes people make faces or get up and walk away when she sits next to them. Abuelita always says, “It’s okay, Amorcito”—she knows these people aren’t worthy of her time. But one day, when Abuelita sits down on the bus before paying her fare—she’s worried about falling—the driver yells at them (“You people are always trying to get away with something”). No one speaks up, and the child feels helpless. Back at home, the protagonist doesn’t want to go out again for fear of a similar encounter, but with the help of Abuelita, the child finds the courage to face their fears. What could have easily come across as preachy or heavy-handed instead serves as a gentle but powerful reminder that even the smallest actions—a glance or a comment—can seem larger than life to a child. With bright, expressive illustrations, this is an accessible, tender exploration of the ways in which many marginalized people experience the world. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A soothing balm for children confronting an often angry, frightening world. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-77321-610-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Annick Press
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2022
Categories: CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY
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A child who insists on having MORE of everything gets MORE than she can handle.
Demanding young Moxie Jo is delighted to discover that pushing the button on a stick she finds in the yard doubles anything she points to. Unfortunately, when she points to her puppy, Max, the button gets stuck—and in no time one dog has become two, then four, then eight, then….Readers familiar with the “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” or Tomie dePaola’s Strega Nona will know how this is going to go, and Masse obliges by filling up succeeding scenes with burgeoning hordes of cute yellow puppies enthusiastically making a shambles of the house. McKellar puts an arithmetical spin on the crisis—“The number of pups exponentially grew: / They each multiplied times a factor of 2!” When clumsy little brother Clark inadvertently intervenes, Moxie Jo is left wiser about her real needs (mostly). An appended section uses lemons to show how exponential doubling quickly leads to really big numbers. Stuart J. Murphy’s Double the Ducks (illustrated by Valeria Petrone, 2002) in the MathStart series explores doubling from a broader perspective and includes more backmatter to encourage further study, but this outing adds some messaging: Moxie Jo’s change of perspective may give children with sharing issues food for thought. She and her family are White; her friends are racially diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Doubles down on a basic math concept with a bit of character development. (Informational picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: July 26, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-101-93386-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2022
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Reinvention is the name of the game for two blobs of clay.
A blue-eyed gray blob and a brown-eyed brown blob sit side by side, unsure as to what’s going to happen next. The gray anticipates an adventure, while the brown appears apprehensive. A pair of hands descends, and soon, amid a flurry of squishing and prodding and poking and sculpting, a handsome gray wolf and a stately brown owl emerge. The hands disappear, leaving the friends to their own devices. The owl is pleased, but the wolf convinces it that the best is yet to come. An ear pulled here and an extra eye placed there, and before you can shake a carving stick, a spurt of frenetic self-exploration—expressed as a tangled black scribble—reveals a succession of smug hybrid beasts. After all, the opportunity to become a “pig-e-phant” doesn’t come around every day. But the sound of approaching footsteps panics the pair of Picassos. How are they going to “fix [them]selves” on time? Soon a hippopotamus and peacock are staring bug-eyed at a returning pair of astonished hands. The creative naiveté of the “clay mates” is perfectly captured by Petty’s feisty, spot-on dialogue: “This was your idea…and it was a BAD one.” Eldridge’s endearing sculpted images are photographed against the stark white background of an artist’s work table to great effect.
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted fun of their own . (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-30311-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
Categories: CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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