Inspiration to find—and perhaps spread—acts of kindness in our world.
A parent and child go for a walk in their neighborhood, finding examples of kindness in the dialogue they hear.
The duo’s rhyming adventure is told entirely through upbeat dialogue balloons. “ ‘You can do it.’ ‘That sounds fair.’ ‘Oh! I’m sorry.’ ‘We can share.’ ” An adult cheers on a young cyclist; two children play cards; and two children work out playing with one toy. Other overheard kindnesses include offers to help, recognition of a good deed, declarations of friendship, examples of compassion and empathy, extensions of courtesy, reassurances, and affirmations—all easy for children to emulate. Martínez’s illustrations effectively highlight the parent and child and the people interacting in each spread by picturing them in full color. The rest of the various scenes are in muted shades. Parent and child share the same brown skin and short black hair; other people are diverse. Backmatter lists other types of kindness walks; e.g., a quiet kindness walk is for noticing people’s actions, and on a literary kindness walk, you read a story while pausing to point out examples of the characters helping others. The author notes that “when we look for something in our world, we have a greater chance of finding it,” and that “our world and its loud news offers many angry sounds.” Kindness walks counteract the negative by seeing ways others “lift each other up.” (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Inspiration to find—and perhaps spread—acts of kindness in our world. (Picture book. 3-10)Pub Date: June 13, 2023
ISBN: 9781433841491
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Magination/American Psychological Association
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023
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
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
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