Special.
Fatima’s first camping trip in America reminds her of life in India.
After a rough week at school, feeling different from all the White American children (she and her older sister appear to be the only students of color at their school) and doing poorly on a quiz, Fatima is eager to head off to the woods with her family. Her father says camping is “a great American pastime.” A spider outside their tent at night terrifies both her and her aapa, but it also reminds them of their mother’s bravery, catching lizards in India and throwing them out the window. In the morning, they are eager to cook their bacon (it’s beef and therefore halal), but Fatima and Papa can’t get a fire going. It’s Mama to the rescue again: In her small town, she had to build fires in a wood-burning stove. Fatima remembers visiting her nani’s house as she watches and learns. As the Khazi family packs up for home, Fatima is sad to leave the forest behind and go back to a life filled with busy parents and an unwelcoming school. But she returns with stories to share and more adventures to look forward to. All secondary characters at school and the campground are White until a final spread shows a multiracial group holding a “Brown People Camping” banner (the author founded the movement), Fatima and her family smiling next to it. This unique take on the family camping story feels refreshing and new, with its layered inclusion of big feelings that children grapple with, from immigration and fitting in to mixed emotions about siblings. Lewis’ bright illustrations are heavily influenced by her animation background. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at 67.5% of actual size.)
Special. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 30, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-984816-95-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Kokila
Review Posted Online: Dec. 24, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2021
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.
The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
As insubstantial as hot air.
A diverse cast of children first makes a fleet of hot air balloons and then takes to the sky in them.
Lifestyle maven Gaines uses this activity as a platform to celebrate diversity in learning and working styles. Some people like to work together; others prefer a solo process. Some take pains to plan extensively; others know exactly what they want and jump right in. Some apply science; others demonstrate artistic prowess. But “see how beautiful it can be when / our differences share the same sky?” Double-page spreads leading up to this moment of liftoff are laid out such that rhyming abcb quatrains typically contain one or two opposing concepts: “Some of us are teachers / and share what we know. / But all of us are learners. / Together is how we grow!” In the accompanying illustration, a bespectacled, Asian-presenting child at a blackboard lectures the other children on “balloon safety.” Gaines’ text has the ring of sincerity, but the sentiment is hardly an original one, and her verse frequently sacrifices scansion for rhyme. Sometimes it abandons both: “We may not look / or work or think the same, / but we all have an / important part to play.” Swaney’s delicate, pastel-hued illustrations do little to expand on the text, but they are pretty. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11.2-by-18.6-inch double-page spreads viewed at 70.7% of actual size.)
As insubstantial as hot air. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Nov. 10, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4003-1423-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tommy Nelson
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
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