adapted by Shutta Crum & illustrated by Katya Krenina ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2001
This folktale has been a favorite for many storytellers and Crum, a storyteller herself, provides a smooth and lively retelling that will send shivers down the listener’s spine. Old Tar Pockets is a truly greedy man who steals warm, soft tar from a neighbor’s bucket and sticks it in his pocket as it is the only thing he has to carry it back home. He also digs up “sweet taters” for supper—but in the process he finds a big, hairy toe. He sticks the toe in the same pocket as the tar, and it sticks tight. That night, he hears a voice crying, “WHO TOOK MY HAIRY TOE?” so he crawls under the quilt to escape, but the voice keeps asking the question. At last, he answers, begging the beast to take it, but, since it is stuck in his pocket, the beast carries Old Tar Pockets away. The tale ends with the folk saying, “ ‘Pay that no nevermind! It’s just Old Tar Pockets getting his due.’ I say, ‘Just as long as what’s in your pocket is yours . . . I wouldn’t worry about it.’ ” Illustrations begin with bright and sunny rural landscapes, but soon become somber, dark, and scary as the telling gets progressively scarier. The beast is suitably ghostly until the last two spreads, where he is depicted as huge and furry as he carts Tar Pockets off. An author’s note cites sources for the tale and the variants, which include the British “Teeny Tiny Bone” and the Midwestern “Tailipoo.” (Folktale. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-8075-5972-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2001
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by Alice Walstead ; illustrated by Andy Elkerton ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 6, 2022
Sugary uplift, shrink-wrapped for the masses.
An elusive new quarry leads the How To Catch… kids on a merry chase through a natural history museum.
Taking at least a step away from the “hunters versus prey” vibe of previous entries in the popular series, the racially diverse group of young visitors dashes through various museum halls in pursuit of the eponymous dino—whose quest to “spread kindness and joy ’round the world” takes the form of a mildly tumultuous museum tour. In most of Elkerton’s overly sweet, color-saturated scenes, only portions of the Loveosaurus, who is purple and covered with pink hearts, are visible behind exhibits or lumbering off the page. But the children find small enticements left behind, from craft supplies to make cards for endangered species to pictures of smiley faces, candy heart–style personal notes (“You Rock!” “Give Hugs”), and, in the hall of medieval arms and armor, a sign urging them to “Be Honest Be Kind.” The somewhat heavy-handed lesson comes through loud and clear. “There’s a message, he wants us to think,” hints Walstead to clue in more obtuse readers…and concluding scenes of smiling people young and otherwise exchanging hugs and knuckle bumps, holding doors for a wheelchair rider, and dancing through clouds of sparkles indicate that they, at least, have gotten it. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Sugary uplift, shrink-wrapped for the masses. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Dec. 6, 2022
ISBN: 9781728268781
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Jan. 17, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2023
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by Carolyn B. Otto ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 5, 2017
A good-enough introduction to a contested festivity but one that’s not in step with the community it’s for.
An overview of the modern African-American holiday.
This book arrives at a time when black people in the United States have had intraracial—some serious, some snarky—conversations about Kwanzaa’s relevance nowadays, from its patchwork inspiration that flattens the cultural diversity of the African continent to a single festive story to, relatedly, the earnest blacker-than-thou pretentiousness surrounding it. Both the author and consultant Keith A. Mayes take great pains—and in painfully simplistic language—to provide a context that attempts to refute the internal arguments as much as it informs its intended audience. In fact, Mayes says in the endnotes that young people are Kwanzaa’s “largest audience and most important constituents” and further extends an invitation to all races and ages to join the winter celebration. However, his “young people represent the future” counterpoint—and the book itself—really responds to an echo of an argument, as black communities have moved the conversation out to listen to African communities who critique the holiday’s loose “African-ness” and deep American-ness and moved on to commemorate holidays that have a more historical base in black people’s experiences in the United States, such as Juneteenth. In this context, the explications of Kwanzaa’s principles and symbols and the smattering of accompanying activities feel out of touch.
A good-enough introduction to a contested festivity but one that’s not in step with the community it’s for. (resources, bibliography, glossary, afterword) (Nonfiction. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4263-2849-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: National Geographic Kids
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2017
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