Words rule in this intriguing, impressive, imaginative, nearly wordless narrative drama.
Three kids find an old typewriter, igniting spectacular surprises when they start playing with it.
Wearing parkas and riding bikes, a white boy, an Asian boy, and a black girl follow a butterfly down a road bordered by snowbanks to an abandoned carousel, where a seat in the shape of a giant bumblebee holds a mysterious black case. Opening the case, they find an old manual typewriter bearing the logo “SpellingBee.” Retrieving paper from her backpack, the girl rolls a piece onto the platen and types the word “Beach.” Instantly, they’re on a sunny beach. When one of the boys types “Ball,” a beach ball appears. Typing “Ice Cream” produces a larger-than-life bucket of ice cream. Mischievously, the girl types “Crab,” and a sci-fi–sized crab with menacing claws chases them. Realizing her mistake, the girl hurries to type the right words to save this incredible day. As in Fossil (2013), Thomson relies on acrylic paint and colored pencils in his signature style to create illustrations of startling photographic realism. Adroit use of light, exaggerated and unusual perspectives, and intense close-ups emphasize the kids’ facial expressions (curiosity, surprise, joy, awe, terror) as well as their size in relation to the gargantuan ice cream bucket and fearsome crab.
Words rule in this intriguing, impressive, imaginative, nearly wordless narrative drama. (Picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: March 8, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4778-4975-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Two Lions
Review Posted Online: Jan. 8, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2016
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on...
Continuing from their acclaimed Those Shoes (2007), Boelts and Jones entwine conversations on money, motives, and morality.
This second collaboration between author and illustrator is set within an urban multicultural streetscape, where brown-skinned protagonist Ruben wishes for a bike like his friend Sergio’s. He wishes, but Ruben knows too well the pressure his family feels to prioritize the essentials. While Sergio buys a pack of football cards from Sonny’s Grocery, Ruben must buy the bread his mom wants. A familiar lady drops what Ruben believes to be a $1 bill, but picking it up, to his shock, he discovers $100! Is this Ruben’s chance to get himself the bike of his dreams? In a fateful twist, Ruben loses track of the C-note and is sent into a panic. After finally finding it nestled deep in a backpack pocket, he comes to a sense of moral clarity: “I remember how it was for me when that money that was hers—then mine—was gone.” When he returns the bill to her, the lady offers Ruben her blessing, leaving him with double-dipped emotions, “happy and mixed up, full and empty.” Readers will be pleased that there’s no reward for Ruben’s choice of integrity beyond the priceless love and warmth of a family’s care and pride.
Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on children. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6649-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
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