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THE SHAPE OF HOME

Name: THE SHAPE OF HOME
Author: Rashin Kheiriyeh
ISBN: 978-1-64614-098-5

by Rashin Kheiriyeh ; illustrated by Rashin Kheiriyeh ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 14, 2021

A creative, child-centered picture book about finding a new home after immigration.

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Iranian immigrant Rashin is getting ready for her first day of school in the United States.

She begins her day with a series of cheerful shapes or memories of shapes that brought her happiness in Iran. For breakfast, her mother makes her a circular pancake shaped like a smiley face for good luck. When she walks to school in the rain, she uses an umbrella that is shaped like a cat, and she passes bicycle and car wheels shaped like circles. She starts to miss the shapes she knew from Iran, like the braided bread from the baker’s, the triangular sails of paper boats, and the heart-shaped wreaths her best friend, Azadeh, made from fresh blossoms. At school, the shape theme continues when Rashin’s new teacher, Mrs. Martin, tells them she is from Benin, which is shaped like a flashlight. Soon all the children are introducing their home countries and their shapes: Japan is shaped like a seahorse; Italy is shaped like a boot. And, of course, there’s Rashin’s own country, Iran, which she says is shaped like a cat. By the end of the day, Rashin is feeling a little better about going to school—and about calling America her home. This ebulliently illustrated, frankly told immigration story glows with good cheer and artfully balances homesickness, excitement, and fear. The author’s thematic use of shapes is an organic, child-friendly way to drive a plot that is both emotionally layered and fun to read. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A creative, child-centered picture book about finding a new home after immigration. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: Sept. 14, 2021

ISBN: 978-1-64614-098-5

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Levine Querido

Review Posted Online: June 28, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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THE SEASONS OF PARASTOO
by Rashin Kheiriyeh ; illustrated by Rashin Kheiriyeh

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THE BOY WHO SAID WOW
by Todd Boss ; illustrated by Rashin Kheiriyeh

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RUMI—POET OF JOY AND LOVE
by Rashin Kheiriyeh ; illustrated by Rashin Kheiriyeh

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CARPENTER'S HELPER

by Sybil Rosen ; illustrated by Camille Garoche ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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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)