by Nikki Simpson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 24, 2014
Teaches Christian values in a format likely to entertain young readers.
A children’s chapter book with a Christian theme.
Simpson’s debut follows the misadventures of Alexis Brackenbury, a second-grader who has a knack for getting herself into sticky situations. Her current problems begin when she’s helping a younger boy retrieve a pet turtle. She loses her new soccer cleat in the process—shoes she wasn’t even supposed to be wearing. When she later tries to retrieve the shoe, a big, vicious-looking dog has beaten her to it. Alex attempts to cover up the fact that she only has one of her new soccer cleats and begins telling a series of lies to her mother and other family members. Alex is shocked and a bit scared at how easy it is for her to lie to her mother and others. She’s also alarmed by the fact that with each new lie, her problems only seem to grow. A disastrous soccer practice in cowboy boots, a soggy mishap with a washing machine, and missing dinner because she’s too busy looking for the soccer cleat she shoved up the gutter pipe—all the result of that first lie. When she finally tells her soccer coach the whole ugly story of why she doesn’t have her soccer cleats, she feels relieved, and she knows what she must do next. Her parents are pleased that Alex has come forward on her own to finally tell them the truth. The text is accompanied by some black-and-white illustrations, which unfortunately don’t always complement the text. In one instance, the text reads, “Mother was wearing a tank top over a pair of stretchy sweat pants. On her feet were dance boots”; yet the illustration shows a woman in a cardigan sweater and Mary Jane shoes. Elsewhere, the illustration for Alex knocking over a clothes-drying rack holding her mother’s sweaters instead shows a shelf of laundry detergent falling off the wall. Overall, the illustrations might confuse young readers. Nevertheless, the story is well-developed with touches of humor and suspense to keep it moving swiftly along, and the moral is clear without being too heavy-handed.
Teaches Christian values in a format likely to entertain young readers.Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2014
ISBN: 978-1493527618
Page Count: 96
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Jo Hoestlandt & translated by Mark Polizzotti & illustrated by Johanna Kang ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 8, 1995
The thoughtless words of childhood become the focus of the narrator's haunted memories of WW II. Helen recalls the events of her ninth birthday in occupied France in 1942. Lydia, her best friend, comes over to spend the night, and they amuse themselves by telling ghost stories. When a stranger wearing a yellow star like Lydia's comes looking for a place to hide, Lydia suddenly wants to go home. Helen is angry and shouts to the departing girl that she is not her friend anymore. The next day Lydia and her family have disappeared. The simple storyline brings together a complex combination of elements—ghost stories and fights between friends who suddenly find themselves in the context of war—all of which are penetrated by an equally complex narratorial voice, capable of differentiating among subtle shades of emotion. It belongs both to the old woman telling the story and to the nine-year-old girl she was. As a result of this layering of perspective, the characters and story have depth through minimal means (sketchy details, snatches of conversation). This is even more effective in the wondrous pictures. In her first book, Kang's palette contains only browns, grays, yellows, and redsmuted colors, forming the geometric interiors of barren apartments. If the individual colors and shapes in the pictures are simple, as a whole they create an intensely expressive atmosphere. (Picture book. 7-10)
Pub Date: May 8, 1995
ISBN: 0-8027-8373-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Walker
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1995
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by Jo Hoestlandt & illustrated by Aurélie Abolivier & translated by Y. Maudet
by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow ; illustrated by Ebony Glenn ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 3, 2018
With a universal message of love and community, this book offers a beautiful representation of a too-often-overlooked...
From a debut author-and-illustrator team comes a glimpse into a young American Muslim girl’s family and community as she walks around in “Mommy’s khimar,” or headscarf.
The star of this sunny picture book is a young girl who finds joy in wearing her mother’s khimar, imagining it transforms her into a queen, a star, a mama bird, a superhero. At the core of the story is the love between the girl and her mother. The family appears to be African-American, with brown skin and textured hair. The girl’s braids and twists “form a bumpy crown” under the khimar, which smells of coconut oil and cocoa butter. Adults in her life delight in her appearance in the bright yellow khimar, including her Arabic teacher at the mosque, who calls it a “hijab,” and her grandmother, who visits after Sunday service and calls out “Sweet Jesus!” as she scoops her granddaughter into her arms. Her grandmother is, apparently, a Christian, but “We are a family and we love each other just the same.” The illustrations feature soft pastel colors with dynamic lines and gently patterned backgrounds that complement the story’s joyful tone. The words are often lyrical, and the story artfully includes many cultural details that will delight readers who share the cheerful protagonist’s culture and enlighten readers who don’t.
With a universal message of love and community, this book offers a beautiful representation of a too-often-overlooked cultural group . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 3, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5344-0059-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Salaam Reads/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018
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by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow ; illustrated by Hatem Aly
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by Aisha Saeed , Huda Al-Marashi , Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow & S.K. Ali
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by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow ; illustrated by Patrick Dougher ; photographed by Jamel Shabazz
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