An effective and festive approach to self-affirmation.
A reindeer searches for the secret of flight in this debut illustrated children’s book.
Unlike his illustrious brother, Rudolph, Ranger is a reindeer who can’t fly. His job at Santaland, North Pole, is merely to pull Santa’s utility sleigh. It’s late November, and Ranger is now old enough to be hitched to the big sleigh. More than ever, he wants to fly. A wise old elf advises that “if you really are ready to be put to the test, you will figure it out on your own. So I will answer your question this way: The secret lies within!” Everyone else tells him the same thing, but no matter how much Ranger searches places that could hold the hidden secret, he can’t find it. When some reindeers fall sick only days before Christmas, Ranger offers to travel to a village for special medicine. It’s a three-day round trip and time is short, so he must hurry. Several obstacles slow Ranger down, and on the way home, a giant ice chasm makes ground passage impossible. Realizing that there’s only one way to save Christmas, Ranger digs deep to find the ability to fly—not elsewhere, but within. In his tale, Salisbury gives his inspirational message appealing suspense and drama, which keeps it from being overly preachy. That Ranger needs a moment of crisis to discover inner strength makes emotional sense, and the support he gets is a superb contrast to Rudolph’s mean reindeer friends. For kids who celebrate Christmas, the setting also taps into the fun of the season. Baird provides digital images that are somewhat flat and geometric but possess charm and offer vivid details, such as shelf labels in the workshop that include “Cookies,” “Paint,” “Wheels,” and “Cocoa.”
An effective and festive approach to self-affirmation.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-62652-333-3
Page Count: 50
Publisher: Jabberwocky Books
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
Quietly contemplative and thoroughly lovely.
A child finds adventure and a change of perspective on a dreary day.
Clouds cover everything in a palette of unending gray, creating a sense of ennui and gloom. A child stands alone, head down, feeling as gray as the day, and decides to ride through town on an old bike. Pops of color throughout the grayscale illustrations go unnoticed—there are yellow leaves scattered about, and the parking lot is filled with bright yellow buses, but this child, who has skin the grayish white of the page, sees only the empty playground, creaky swings, a sad merry-go-round, and lonely seesaws. But look—there’s a narrow winding path just beyond the fence, something to explore. There are things to be noticed, leaves to be crunched, and discoveries to be made. Imagination takes over, along with senses of wonderment and calm, as the child watches a large blue bird fly over the area. The ride home is quite different, joyful and filled with color previously ignored, reaffirming the change in the rider’s outlook. The descriptive, spare text filled with imagery and onomatopoeia is well aligned with well-rendered art highlighting all the colors that brighten the not-so-gray day and allowing readers to see what the protagonist struggles to understand, that “anything can happen…on a gray day.” (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Quietly contemplative and thoroughly lovely. (Picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781797210896
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: June 8, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
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