A child directly addresses readers and potential writers to share one way of getting stories started.
The unidentified student narrator shows off their male teacher’s idea jar, a place where all the kids contribute story ideas on slips of paper, and his words of wisdom: bad story ideas don’t exist; you can write, draw, or recite your tale. In Pilutti’s gouache-and–pen-and-ink illustrations, the slip-filled jar gradually morphs to contain the characters indicated on the papers (“Viking,” “monkey,” “unicorn”): the space robot uses rocket boots to escape the jar; the horseless cowgirl climbs over the rim into a desert landscape. But then the characters start to intrude a bit, giving advice to the diverse class and demanding to shape their stories. And when the idea jar gets tipped over? Watch out! Teachers will certainly welcome the notion of story ideas as living things that need to be written about in order to be happy, and the mix-ups that happen when the ideas escape and interact reflect some of the creative writing already going on in classrooms—for example, each student contributing a single sentence in turn. But unfortunately, Lehrhaupt and Pilutti don’t avoid didacticism, and their audience isn’t clear; the narration reaches for a younger audience than the snarky comments of the characters seem to imply.
A stellar idea for the idea jar, but the result may stay on the shelf. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4814-5166-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2017
Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY
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Ice princess Lina must navigate family and school in this early chapter read.
The family picnic is today. This is not a typical gathering, since Lina’s maternal relatives are a royal family of Windtamers who have power over the weather and live in castles floating on clouds. Lina herself is mixed race, with black hair and a tan complexion like her Asian-presenting mother’s; her Groundling father appears to be a white human. While making a grand entrance at the castle of her grandfather, the North Wind, she fails to successfully ride a gust of wind and crashes in front of her entire family. This prompts her stern grandfather to ask that Lina move in with him so he can teach her to control her powers. Desperate to avoid this, Lina and her friend Claudia, who is black, get Lina accepted at the Hilltop Science and Arts Academy. Lina’s parents allow her to go as long as she does lessons with grandpa on Saturdays. However, fitting in at a Groundling school is rough, especially when your powers start freak winter storms! With the story unfurling in diary format, bright-pink–highlighted grayscale illustrations help move the plot along. There are slight gaps in the storytelling and the pacing is occasionally uneven, but Lina is full of spunk and promotes self-acceptance.
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre. (Fantasy. 5-8)Pub Date: June 25, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-35393-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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Pippa conquers a fear of the creatures that emerge from her storybooks at night.
Pippa’s “wonderfully wild imagination” can sometimes run “a little TOO wild.” During the day, she wears her “armor” and is a force to be reckoned with. But in bed at night, Pippa worries about “villains and monsters and beasts.” Sharp-toothed and -taloned shadows, dragons, and pirates emerge from her storybooks like genies from a bottle, just to scare her. Pippa flees to her parents’ room only to be brought back time and again. Finally, Pippa decides that she “needs a plan” to “get rid of them once and for all.” She decides to slip a written invitation into every book, and that night, they all come out. She tries subduing them with a lasso, an eye patch, and a sombrero, but she is defeated. Next, she tries “sashes and sequins and bows,” throwing the fashion pieces on the monsters, who…“begin to pose and primp and preen.” After that success, their fashion show becomes a nightly ritual. Clever Pippa’s transformation from scared victim of her own imagination to leader of the monster pack feels fairly sudden, but it’s satisfying nonetheless. The cartoony illustrations effectively use dynamic strokes, shadow, and light to capture action on the page and the feeling of Pippa's fears taking over her real space. Pippa and her parents are brown-skinned with curls of various textures.
A delicious triumph over fear of night creatures. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5420-9300-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Two Lions
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY
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