A glowingly illustrated exploration of immigration, family bonds, and human resilience.
A young girl cultivates a tree and an understanding of her family history.
When Emilia wakes up one morning to find a gift—a single walnut—from Grandpa on her bedside table, her mom smiles knowingly: “It must be walnut season.” What follows is the story of Grandpa’s nut. Long ago, a young Grandpa plucked a lone walnut from a tree outside his home near Lake Como in Italy and carried the steadily growing sprout across “a great wide ocean” to “a new country on a new continent.” As he grew into an adult, the sapling grew into the tree that still stands outside the house Grandpa shares with Emilia and her mom. With newfound appreciation, Emilia beholds the lofty walnut tree in her backyard that grows alongside a smaller, younger one: “This is my tree,” Grandpa tells Emilia. “And that one is your mother’s.” Together, they plant a third walnut tree, for Emilia, and care for it as it slowly grows. The warmhearted watercolor, gouache, and colored-pencil illustrations are the true highlight of the book, offering lovingly rendered images of Sala’s native Italy and a poignant view of Grandpa’s aging and eventual passing. A gentle tale about maintaining a sense of continuity and rootedness in the face of life’s upheavals, this book is a worthy addition to any personal or library collection.
A glowingly illustrated exploration of immigration, family bonds, and human resilience. (Picture book. 5-10)Pub Date: March 22, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-4197-5002-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
A nicely inventive little morality “tail” for newly independent readers.
Two little rats decide to show the world how tough they are, with unpredictable results.
Louie and Ralphie Ratso want to be just like their single dad, Big Lou: tough! They know that “tough” means doing mean things to other animals, like stealing Chad Badgerton’s hat. Chad Badgerton is a big badger, so taking that hat from him proves that Louie and Ralphie are just as tough as they want to be. However, it turns out that Louie and Ralphie have just done a good deed instead of a bad one: Chad Badgerton had taken that hat from little Tiny Crawley, a mouse, so when Tiny reclaims it, they are celebrated for goodness rather than toughness. Sadly, every attempt Louie and Ralphie make at doing mean things somehow turns nice. What’s a little boy rat supposed to do to be tough? Plus, they worry about what their dad will say when he finds out how good they’ve been. But wait! Maybe their dad has some other ideas? LaReau keeps the action high and completely appropriate for readers embarking on chapter books. Each of the first six chapters features a new, failed attempt by Louie and Ralphie to be mean, and the final, seventh chapter resolves everything nicely. The humor springs from their foiled efforts and their reactions to their failures. Myers’ sprightly grayscale drawings capture action and characters and add humorous details, such as the Ratsos’ “unwelcome” mat.
A nicely inventive little morality “tail” for newly independent readers. (Fiction. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7636-7636-0
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
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