The concept’s basically sound, and despite flaws, the book could be useful when combined with other resources.
A roundup of traditional breakfast foods from around the world.
Brimming with foods—there’s Australia’s Vegemite on toast, Jamaica’s cornmeal porridge, and hagleslag (chocolate sprinkles) in the Netherlands—this colorful tome is a fun tribute to global foods and cultures. Each of the 12 countries has a dedicated two-page spread. One page is written in rhyme while the second page offers descriptions and cultural details in prose. Unfortunately, McGinty’s stunted rhymes break up the flow and detract from the book’s true potential. “Breakfast in Australia / is a black and salty paste. / Thinly spread on toasted bread… / It’s quite a shocking taste!” Most disappointing? McGinty loses a huge opportunity to encapsulate “breakfast around the world” by ignoring the plurality of America’s multicultural population. Americans don’t all eat bagels, cereal, or eggs and bacon for breakfast! Thank goodness for Suzuki’s playful illustrations. Attentive readers will spot lovely details beyond just food; the cultures themselves are on show, particularly how children live and play in other countries. Larger-than-life pictures of congee and shakshuka are flanked by fruit, flora and fauna, famous landmarks and symbols, as well as diverse children in everyday settings. The book also highlights different eating habits. For example, families in India gather on the floor to eat off banana leaves with fingers instead of silverware.
The concept’s basically sound, and despite flaws, the book could be useful when combined with other resources. (map) (Informational picture book. 4-10)Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-499-80712-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
Comprehensive and forthright.
The hows, whys, and wherefores of voting are presented in this picture book.
Beginning with the concept of choice and using a vote for a class pet as the initial example, this story takes readers by their hands and leads them through the entire electoral process for something. In addition to presenting the actual activity of the vote, the story stresses the ramifications of voting (or not voting) as well as the idea of engaging others in discussion. Special emphasis is placed on the concept of acquiring knowledge in order to become an informed voter. While the target audience is too young to vote in town, state, or national legislative elections, the story hands young readers power by telling them they can make sure those who can vote, do. The meat-and-potatoes text is forthright and unadorned, and the illustrations rarely vary from their two-vignettes-per-page format. Nonetheless, by its very simplicity, the gravity of the message is underscored—voting equals choice; choice equals quality of life. Bloch’s illustrations, dominated by people delineated in sketchy black outlines filled with simple patterns or color shades, emphasize expressions rendered in a cartoon style, and this adds a needed bit of levity to it all. A range of skin shades from beige to brown is shown. Extensive backmatter includes a thorough section on “How Our Government Works” as well as steps to take to vote.
Comprehensive and forthright. (backmatter, bibliography, online resources) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Jan. 21, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4561-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Neal Porter/Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
PERSPECTIVES
A solid work of visual storytelling.
A poetic narrative charts the history of voting rights in the United States from the founders to the present, emphasizing that “A right isn’t right / Till it’s granted to all.”
A black woman at a blackboard instructs a class (and readers) in an inclusive “we” as the voices of democracy swell to affirm the expansion of voting rights. Diesen (in a dramatic departure from her Pout-Pout Fish series) and Mora effectively employ the drama of the turning page as, on each spread when the refrain is resounded, the number of people marching grows from two black women and a black man to a host of the historically disenfranchised. The final refrain is a crescendo, complemented by a double-page spread depicting a crowded, diverse line of marchers. As they march from left to right into the page turn, readers are reminded that “The journey’s not over / The work hasn’t ended / Democracy’s dream / Must be constantly tended.” The pages act as a timeline, and several illustrations depict historical figures, including Sojourner Truth, Abraham Lincoln, and John Lewis. (A backmatter key helps identify the many activists represented.) As an introduction, the volume focuses on the progress and not the obstacles, but caregivers can supplement the history, using the extensive backmatter addressed to them: information on related constitutional amendments and relevant legislation and a two-page list of voting rights activists.
A solid work of visual storytelling. (Informational picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5344-3958-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
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