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MARTINA HAS TOO MANY TÍAS

Name: MARTINA HAS TOO MANY TÍAS
Author: Emma Otheguy
ISBN: 9781534445369

by Emma Otheguy ; illustrated by Sara Palacios ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 20, 2023

An affirming story that feels like a warm hug from a beloved relative.

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A Latine child has a tía problem.

Martina loves her tías—salsa dancer Tía Susana, flashy fashionista Tía Leonor, and loud, laughing Tía Alberta—but her aunts give her a headache when they’re around! Dreading another boisterous visit from them, Martina slips away during a party to the corner bodega. She buys a flower with a found coin and heads back to her apartment. While sniffing a big pot of guava, she plunges headlong inside and is transported to a jungle, where she interviews potential animal playmates—all of whom are too loud for her head to bear. Finally, she befriends a quiet mouse, and they bond over a love of imaginary adventures and hushed voices. As darkness falls, the fun fades, loneliness creeps in, and—in a scene reminiscent of Max returning from the land of the Wild Things—Martina reemerges in her kitchen surrounded by tías who can’t wait to hear her story. In this sweet homage to the Caribbean folktale “La Cucaracha Martina,” a young girl comes to cherish familial love. Colorful, digitally rendered illustrations have a three-dimensional, collage feel, exuding warmth and light and capturing a child’s world of imagination. Readers who prefer quiet contemplation to rowdy celebrations will feel kinship with Martina. Though the child needs some alone time, she’s always clearly an integral part of her family—a much-needed message that comes through loudly (but not too loudly!). (This book was reviewed digitally.)

An affirming story that feels like a warm hug from a beloved relative. (author’s note) (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: June 20, 2023

ISBN: 9781534445369

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Atheneum

Review Posted Online: March 28, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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REINA RAMOS
by Emma Otheguy ; illustrated by Andrés Landazábal

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REINA RAMOS MEETS A BIG PUPPY
by Emma Otheguy ; illustrated by Andrés Landazábal

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REINA RAMOS WORKS IT OUT
by Emma Otheguy ; illustrated by Andrés Landazábal

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GOOD NIGHT THOUGHTS

by Max Greenfield ; illustrated by James Serafino ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 3, 2024

Relatable guidance for nocturnal worriers.

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Actor and author Greenfield’s latest picture book follows a child kept awake by anxieties.

The pajama-clad narrator huddles in bed among the blue shadows of a bedroom at night. “Every time I close my eyes, I’m afraid of all the scary stuff I see.” Bright, candy-hued clouds of cartoon images surround the child, lively, disruptive depictions of the what-ifs and exaggerated disasters that crowd out sleep: war (we see the world pop “into a piece of popcorn”), kidnapping (pirates carry away the child’s teddy bear), falling “up” into the sun, tarantulas in the toilet, and a menacing-looking dentist. These outsize insomnia inducers may help readers put their own unvoiced concerns into perspective; after all, what frightens one person might seem silly but understandable to another. Our narrator tries to replace the unsettling thoughts with happy ones—hugging a baby panda, being serenaded by a choir of doughnuts, and “all the people who love me holding hands and wearing every piece of clothing that they own.” But sleep is still elusive. Finally, remembering that there’s a difference between reality and an overactive imagination, the child relaxes a bit: “Right now, everything is okay. And so am I.” Reassuring, though not exactly sedate, this tale will spark daytime discussions about how difficult it can be to quiet unsettling thoughts. The child has dark hair and blue-tinged skin, reflecting the darkness of the bedroom.

Relatable guidance for nocturnal worriers. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2024

ISBN: 9780593697894

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Putnam

Review Posted Online: May 31, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2024

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
I DON'T WANT TO READ THIS BOOK ALOUD
by Max Greenfield ; illustrated by Mike Lowery

- BOOK REVIEW
THIS BOOK IS NOT A PRESENT
by Max Greenfield ; illustrated by Mike Lowery

- BOOK REVIEW
I DON'T WANT TO READ THIS BOOK
by Max Greenfield ; illustrated by Mike Lowery

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)