Whether used as beginning prayers or to teach an attitude of gratitude, this lovely title and its companion do their parts...
Thick pages, a padded cover, and simple text ensure that this board book will survive a toddler's daily mindfulness practice.
Parents wanting to help their children establish the practice of gratitude and mindfulness will find gentle examples in this and its companion volume, Tiny Blessings for Giving Thanks. Simple, direct sentences address an unspecified “You,” leaving readers free to fill in the blank (Mother Earth, Great Spirit, God, Shakti, Shiva, Kali, Consciousness, Creator, etc.) depending on each family’s belief system. Bedtime evokes nighttime icons—the twinkling stars, a shimmery moon, tender goodnight kisses, and peaceful rest are listed. Giving Thanks starts with “Thank you for this great, big world” before moving to less abstract images that children will easily recognize. Parker's rhyming text is reminiscent of scripture and meditation guides, and it flows smoothly, but with just five page turns it won't burden beginning practitioners. Walsh's art, a sweet mix of collage and greeting-card whimsy, invites a closer look. The smiling children portrayed in a satisfying mix of skin tones model wonderment, joy, and contentment, while the brown-skinned mother in this volume and the white father in Giving Thanks epitomize loving concern.
Whether used as beginning prayers or to teach an attitude of gratitude, this lovely title and its companion do their parts to start mindfulness in the cradle. (Board book. 6 mos.-3)Pub Date: March 8, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7624-5990-2
Page Count: 10
Publisher: Running Press Kids
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Captivating and powerful.
The story of one person’s life is the very essence of history, transcending time, distance and generations.
A little girl and her great-grandfather meet for the first time and attempt to get to know each other. The child is intrigued by the curiosities she sees in a collection of matchboxes. These matchboxes represent the memories of the old man’s life, a tangible diary, undertaken as a substitute for the written form at a time in his life when he was illiterate. Bits and pieces contained within call forth events, emotions or people that were important in his life’s journey, from his early childhood in Italy to the difficult voyage to America and the struggles of his immigrant family in the new world. An olive pit, a pen nib, a fish bone, a piece of coal and more tell of poverty, dreams and perseverance. Writing entirely in dialogue, Fleischman employs a natural and believable matter-of-fact tone that provides a fresh view of the immigrant experience, as the humble objects and their stories form the beginning of a loving bond between the little girl and her great-grandfather. Ibatoulline’s illustrations, done in acrylic gouache, are extraordinarily detailed and expressive. Modern scenes appear in warm, amber-toned colors, while framed sepia vignettes depict past memories as if part of a family album.
Captivating and powerful. (Picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: March 12, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7636-4601-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Dec. 25, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2013
A sweet picture book about forming family ties across oceans.
Sejal, her mother, and her grandmother are planning a trip to Kanyakumari, a city at the southernmost edge of India, where “three oceans meet.”
Sejal and Mommy live in the United States and Pati in Bangalore, so while Sejal has a lot in common with her grandmother, they are also very different. When they are packing for their trip, for example, Sejal packs shorts and T-shirts while her grandmother packs 9-yard saris typical of southern Brahmin households. Sejal speaks mostly English while her grandmother speaks a mix of English, Tamil, and Kannada. On their way to Kanyakumari, Sejal and her family get to experience iconic cities in Tamil Nadu. In the coastal city of Chennai, they eat dosa. In Coimbatore, they visit relatives over tea. In Madurai, they visit one of southern India’s most famous Hindu temples. In between these cities, they stop to sip tender coconut, shop at a typical market, and gaze at the countryside from the windows of a train. These sights are all realized in Sreenivasan’s sunny, affectionate illustrations, and they appear again on a closing map that traces the journey. Finally, they reach Kanyakumari, where they witness three oceans coming together just like three generations of their family. The book’s text is a celebration of intergenerational, border-crossing love, and the analogy between the three oceans and the three female protagonists works well.
A sweet picture book about forming family ties across oceans. (author’s note, illustrator’s note) (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4197-4129-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
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