The scene is a small town on Long Island; the writing is not nearly as seriously funny as in the original; and even though...
This is more about that spankingly (spankably?) fresh heroine Harriet The Spy whose initial appearance occasioned all kinds of discussion among those who monitor juvenile literature; some thought she wasn't very "nice"; some even took the position that she was "sick."
In any case, in this sequel, Harriet is much less of a controversial character, and, sadly, she's lost lots of her sassy spriteliness. There are however occasional sequences which make the book, rather than Harriet, vaguely (very vaguely, by our standards) liable to censure. There is some consideration of religion with a valid if unorthodox conclusion—"It is a tool to get through life with. And if it works, it is a good tool. And if it don't work, it is a bad tool." Then there's a perfectly natural short discussion of that natural feminine phenomenon, menstruation, which occurs at this age but is seldom mentioned in juvenile fiction at this age level... Beyond that, The Long Secret is not as good, or perhaps cohesive, a story as the first one, partly because Harriet is subsidiary to her friend Beth Ellen. Beth Ellen's life is now disrupted by the reappearance of her delinquent but glamorous mother whom she hadn't seen in seven years. Her mother arrives, along with a new marital acquisition, and subjects Beth Ellen to Elizabeth Arden, the Bath & Tennis Club and a whole unwanted worldly sphere of life. In this case, Mother doesn't know best and is sent away, back to Europe. And this situation is not only an innovation but a dramatic reversal of the accepted "good family relationship" which usually obtains in books for and about the young... What about Harriet? She's busy too, trying to find out just who has been littering the community with threatening Biblical admonitions and the culprit will come as a surprise...
The scene is a small town on Long Island; the writing is not nearly as seriously funny as in the original; and even though Louise Fitzhugh is still well ahead of the field, the book is not as appealing as the first.Pub Date: Oct. 27, 1965
ISBN: 978-0-440-41819-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1965
A joyful celebration.
Families in a variety of configurations play, dance, and celebrate together.
The rhymed verse, based on a song from the Noodle Loaf children’s podcast, declares that “Families belong / Together like a puzzle / Different-sized people / One big snuggle.” The accompanying image shows an interracial couple of caregivers (one with brown skin and one pale) cuddling with a pajama-clad toddler with light brown skin and surrounded by two cats and a dog. Subsequent pages show a wide array of families with members of many different racial presentations engaging in bike and bus rides, indoor dance parties, and more. In some, readers see only one caregiver: a father or a grandparent, perhaps. One same-sex couple with two children in tow are expecting another child. Smart’s illustrations are playful and expressive, curating the most joyful moments of family life. The verse, punctuated by the word together, frequently set in oversized font, is gently inclusive at its best but may trip up readers with its irregular rhythms. The song that inspired the book can be found on the Noodle Loaf website.
A joyful celebration. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-22276-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Rise x Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2020
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
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