by Andrée Poulin ; illustrated by Isabelle Malenfant translated by Andrée Poulin ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 13, 2016
Poverty is difficult to grasp if one is not living it; this story may help nurture empathetic future generations.
A young boy must salvage recyclable material from a mountain of trash in order to earn money for his family.
Pablo and his older sister, Sofia, wake. They have a thin blanket and not much else. They must hurry to get to the dumpsite so they are in position to vie for the best treasures when the truck arrives. Everyone pushes, runs, and shoves. Pablo is meant to be looking for cans, glass, plastic, or paper, but he gets a small thrill when he unearths a book. He longs to be able to read it. Another unexpected treasure is found: two small carrots. Pablo and Sofia gulp them down. Poulin swiftly establishes the bleak, desperate setting. Gasses from the garbage irritate throats, shards of glass cut fingers and feet, and there is always a threat that loot may be stolen. Few clues are given, but the word “pepenadores” hints at Mexico. Suddenly, Pablo finds a true treasure: a gold chain. He and his sister dream of what they could buy; it’s nothing extravagant, simply a soccer ball or ice cream. This may shock young, privileged readers who take their toys for granted. Smudged illustrations, with only pale hints of color, brighten exponentially when Pablo and Sofia dream big.
Poverty is difficult to grasp if one is not living it; this story may help nurture empathetic future generations. (Picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-55451-867-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Annick Press
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2016
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by Suzy Kline ; illustrated by Amy Wummer ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 27, 2018
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode.
A long-running series reaches its closing chapters.
Having, as Kline notes in her warm valedictory acknowledgements, taken 30 years to get through second and third grade, Harry Spooger is overdue to move on—but not just into fourth grade, it turns out, as his family is moving to another town as soon as the school year ends. The news leaves his best friend, narrator “Dougo,” devastated…particularly as Harry doesn’t seem all that fussed about it. With series fans in mind, the author takes Harry through a sort of last-day-of-school farewell tour. From his desk he pulls a burned hot dog and other items that featured in past episodes, says goodbye to Song Lee and other classmates, and even (for the first time ever) leads Doug and readers into his house and memento-strewn room for further reminiscing. Of course, Harry isn’t as blasé about the move as he pretends, and eyes aren’t exactly dry when he departs. But hardly is he out of sight before Doug is meeting Mohammad, a new neighbor from Syria who (along with further diversifying a cast that began as mostly white but has become increasingly multiethnic over the years) will also be starting fourth grade at summer’s end, and planning a written account of his “horrible” buddy’s exploits. Finished illustrations not seen.
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Nov. 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-451-47963-1
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
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by Shelley Johannes ; illustrated by Shelley Johannes ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 19, 2017
A kind child in a book for middle-grade readers? There’s no downside to that.
Beatrice Zinker is a kinder, gentler Judy Moody.
Beatrice doesn’t want to be fit in a box. Her first word was “WOW,” not “Mom.” She does her best thinking upside down and prefers to dress like a ninja. Like Judy Moody, she has patient parents and a somewhat annoying younger brother. (She also has a perfectly ordinary older sister.) Beatrice spends all summer planning a top-secret spy operation complete with secret codes and a secret language (pig Latin). But on the first day of third grade, her best friend, Lenny (short for Eleanor), shows up in a dress, with a new friend who wants to play veterinarian at recess. Beatrice, essentially a kind if somewhat quirky kid, struggles to see the upside of the situation and ends up with two friends instead of one. Line drawings on almost every spread add to the humor and make the book accessible to readers who might otherwise balk at its 160 pages. Thankfully, the rhymes in the text do not continue past the first chapter. Children will enjoy the frequent puns and Beatrice’s preference for climbing trees and hanging upside down. The story drifts dangerously close to pedantry when Beatrice asks for advice from a grandmotherly neighbor but is saved by likable characters and upside-down cake. Beatrice seems to be white; Lenny’s surname, Santos, suggests that she may be Latina; their school is a diverse one.
A kind child in a book for middle-grade readers? There’s no downside to that. (Fiction. 6-10)Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4847-6738-2
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
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