by Ahmad Akbarpour & illustrated by Morteza Zahedi & translated by Shadi Eskandani & Helen Mixter ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2010
In the war between Iran and Iraq, a little boy loses his leg—and also his mother. Once safe, his only way to make sense of the tragedy is to re-create the war in his bedroom with a toy gun and imaginary soldiers. This time however, he is in control; he is the Commander. But when he finally meets his enemy face to face, he finds a young boy, similar to him. Readers learn a universal truth—enemies are never as different as one would imagine. The boy stops fighting and looks tearfully at his mother’s photograph, ashamed that he was unable to avenge her death. A reassuring voice whispers, “Congratulations, Commander. I am proud of you.” Zahedi’s wobbly, childlike sketches reinforce the direct perspective of a child struggling to process horrific events. Educating children about war will never be easy, but a story from a child’s voice shows how combat affects everyone. Tanks and fallen soldiers, no matter how innocently rendered, make this more suitable for older readers, but the recognition of the essential humanity of an enemy is a good lesson for all. (introductory note) (Picture book. 8-12)
Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-88899-989-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: June 23, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2010
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by Ahmad Akbarpour & illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault
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by E.B. White illustrated by Garth Williams ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 15, 1952
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
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A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
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by E.B. White & illustrated by Maggie Kneen
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by E.B. White illustrated by Fred Marcellino
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by E.B. White illustrated by Garth Williams
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by Raina Telgemeier ; illustrated by Raina Telgemeier ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 17, 2019
With young readers diagnosed with anxiety in ever increasing numbers, this book offers a necessary mirror to many.
Young Raina is 9 when she throws up for the first time that she remembers, due to a stomach bug. Even a year later, when she is in fifth grade, she fears getting sick.
Raina begins having regular stomachaches that keep her home from school. She worries about sharing food with her friends and eating certain kinds of foods, afraid of getting sick or food poisoning. Raina’s mother enrolls her in therapy. At first Raina isn’t sure about seeing a therapist, but over time she develops healthy coping mechanisms to deal with her stress and anxiety. Her therapist helps her learn to ground herself and relax, and in turn she teaches her classmates for a school project. Amping up the green, wavy lines to evoke Raina’s nausea, Telgemeier brilliantly produces extremely accurate visual representations of stress and anxiety. Thought bubbles surround Raina in some panels, crowding her with anxious “what if”s, while in others her negative self-talk appears to be literally crushing her. Even as she copes with anxiety disorder and what is eventually diagnosed as mild irritable bowel syndrome, she experiences the typical stresses of school life, going from cheer to panic in the blink of an eye. Raina is white, and her classmates are diverse; one best friend is Korean American.
With young readers diagnosed with anxiety in ever increasing numbers, this book offers a necessary mirror to many. (Graphic memoir. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-545-85251-7
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 11, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
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by Raina Telgemeier ; illustrated by Raina Telgemeier
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by Raina Telgemeier ; illustrated by Raina Telgemeier
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by Raina Telgemeier ; illustrated by Raina Telgemeier
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