Lovingly depicts the sacred relationship between Lakota people and their homeland.
Author/illustrator Beartrack-Algeo (Lower Brule Lakota Nation) creates a mystical world where giant bears roam and girls fly on the back of a giant eagle to become stars.
This retelling of the story of Pleiades, the Seven Sisters star formation, begins with seven Lakota sisters entering the forest to seek out the last of the season’s chokeberries. The eldest sister, Maske, loves to entertain her younger sisters with stories of Mahpiya, the Sky World: “a magical place where stars scattered as far as the eye could see.” Their mother has warned them not to go deep into the forest for berries, but the sisters eat all the berries from the nearby bushes. Maske leads her sisters farther and farther away, telling them stories all the while. They fill their baskets and turn for home, but an enormous bear appears and chases them. Terrified, they run for their lives. When they reach a ledge, they kneel, and Maske prays to the Great Spirit to save them. The ground trembles and rises high in the sky, and Wanbli Tanka, a huge sacred eagle, comes to save them. He flies the sisters to “the land of Wicahpi,” or Star Nation, from which they watch over their people. Rich oil paintings accompany the lyrical telling. An opening glossary defines Lakota terms; these definitions are repeated in parentheses within the narrative—a mildly disruptive feature.
Lovingly depicts the sacred relationship between Lakota people and their homeland. (author's notes, glossary) (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-939053-39-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: 7th Generation
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2021
Inspiring creativity and a closer look at personal observances of Hanukkah.
Ava’s extended family members bring their menorahs to celebrate the eighth night of Hanukkah.
The girl decides to create her own menorah after she learns the story behind each special lamp. She tells her pet rabbit, named Maccabee (after the warriors who found the miraculous oil that burned for eight nights in the Hanukkah story), about their meanings. Pop-Pop’s menorah uses “corks that float in jars of oil,” often found in the Sephardic tradition. Aunt Rachel’s lamp is fashioned with a clear glass tube displaying pieces of the special glass ceremonially broken at her wedding with Aunt Tamar. Aunt Tamar’s traditional metal menorah was found by her grandfather in a box left by his grandfather. She tells Ava that she was excited to discover that she had Jewish ancestors, although she was not brought up as a Jew. Other relatives explain their menorahs, and Ava then makes her own menorah to remember people, places, a special event, and her family origins. The story reflects different aspects of contemporary Jewish life and could be used with other books that tell the story of Hanukkah as a festival of religious freedom. It would also work well as an introduction to a menorah-making activity. The characters are light-skinned, except for Aunt Tamar, who is brown-skinned, and Pop-Pop, who has slightly browner skin than most others, perhaps indicating Sephardic heritage. The colorful though pedestrian illustrations clearly show the details of each menorah. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Inspiring creativity and a closer look at personal observances of Hanukkah. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-8075-0495-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2022
A disappointing effort.
Don’t count all your fools in one place.
Schlemiel the tailor lives in Chelm, a town in Jewish folklore famous for fools. He fancies himself wise and a shrewd arbiter, and he just might be…at least, compared with the other Chelm residents. Look what happens when the mayor is frightened that a rock on the mountain looming over Chelm might fall. Some citizens carry the rock down to the village, and Schlemiel remarks they could have rolled it down instead. The villagers haul it back up to where they found it—then roll it down, crushing several buildings. Schlemiel decides they’re so foolish, he’s going to America. On the way, he settles a dispute between two people about where a bridge leads, confounds an immigration official, and earns big money when he solves a problem at a construction site involving piles of dirt and holes. Young readers will likely find the stories in this early chapter book mildly amusing—if they get them. However, the artwork is ill-suited to the text. Characters look stiff and bland, and their eyes don’t focus. Scenes and people appear staged, as if posed for a tableau. Characters are light-skinned except for one brown-skinned person on the immigration line. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A disappointing effort. (about Chelm) (Chapter book. 6-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2023
ISBN: 9781478876113
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Reycraft Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2023
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