Creatively encourages preschoolers to regulate their emotions and practice kindness.
Mendoza-Vasconez’s picture book demonstrates that self-care is about helping others as much as it’s about helping yourself.
In every person’s body, describes a mother to two children with white skin, are a set of tanks: one for food (stomach), one for knowledge (brain), and, most importantly, one for love (heart). “Just like the gas tank in a car that we fill with gas so the car will run, the tanks in your body fill up with other important things that can make you feel your best.” People with a full love tank may feel fulfilled, while those with an empty one might falter. They may seek solace in harmful behaviors, but a helping hand can pull them out of their funk. This ode to self-care and the power of community is Mendoza-Vasconez’s debut picture book and conveys its message in a simple, child-friendly way. While adults may question whether the concept of the tank means there is a limit to love or knowledge, kids may find the metaphor gives them a concrete way to balance and monitor their emotions. The narrator’s warmth and optimism are reflected in Nilson’s colorful, flowing illustrations that use a motif of swirling flowers to reinforce the cyclical impacts of people performing acts of kindness for each other.
Creatively encourages preschoolers to regulate their emotions and practice kindness.Pub Date: July 25, 2023
ISBN: 979-8988022916
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Wholesome Children Books
Review Posted Online: July 22, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute.
Readers bid farewell to a beloved canine character.
Momo is—or was—an adorable and very photogenic border collie owned by author Knapp. The many readers who loved him in the previous half-dozen books are in for a shock with this one. “Momo had died” is the stark reality—and there are no photographs of him here. Instead, Momo has been replaced by a flat cartoonish pastiche with strange, staring round white eyes, inserted into some of Knapp’s photography (which remains appealing, insofar as it can be discerned under the mixed media). Previous books contained few or no words. Unfortunately, virtuosity behind a lens does not guarantee mastery of verse. The art here is accompanied by words that sometimes rhyme but never find a workable or predictable rhythm (“We’d fetch and we’d catch, / we’d run and we’d jump. Every day we found new / games to play”). It’s a pity, because the subject—a pet’s death—is an important one to address with children. Of course, Momo isn’t gone; he can still be found “everywhere” in memories. But alas, he can be found here only in the crude depictions of the darling dog so well known from the earlier books.
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781683693864
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Quirk Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
A solid addition to Rotner’s seasonal series. Bring on summer.
Rotner follows up her celebrations of spring and autumn with this look at all things winter.
Beginning with the signs that winter is coming—bare trees, shorter days, colder temperatures—Rotner eases readers into the season. People light fires and sing songs on the solstice, trees and plants stop growing, and shadows grow long. Ice starts to form on bodies of water and windows. When the snow flies, the fun begins—bundle up and then build forts, make snowballs and snowmen (with eyebrows!), sled, ski (nordic is pictured), skate, snowshoe, snowboard, drink hot chocolate. Animals adapt to the cold as well. “Birds grow more feathers” (there’s nothing about fluffing and air insulation) and mammals, more hair. They have to search for food, and Rotner discusses how many make or find shelter, slow down, hibernate, or go underground or underwater to stay warm. One page talks about celebrating holidays with lights and decorations. The photos show a lit menorah, an outdoor deciduous tree covered in huge Christmas bulbs, a girl next to a Chinese dragon head, a boy with lit luminarias, and some fireworks. The final spread shows signs of the season’s shift to spring. Rotner’s photos, as always, are a big draw. The children are a marvelous mix of cultures and races, and all show their clear delight with winter.
A solid addition to Rotner’s seasonal series. Bring on summer. (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3976-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
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