A passable effort with some high points.
A young Latina girl emerges from her older sister’s shadow when her father secretly teaches her to dance the flamenco.
Lola envies everything about her older sister Clementina, from her name to her hair to her painting. While hiding in her parents’ closet one day, Lola finds her mother’s old dancing shoes. After Mami won’t divulge the shoes’ details, Lola goes to her father and discovers that her mother used to dance flamenco. Lola convinces Papi that she possesses the duende (attitude) necessary for dancing flamenco, and he agrees to teach her in secret. The two practice whenever they can, starting with rhythm and building to footwork. After their dancing feet disturb a downstairs neighbor, Lola and Papi move to the roof and continue the lessons. Papi decides to plan a surprise party for Mami’s approaching birthday party, where Lola can show off her skills. At the party, Papi saves Lola from a brief wardrobe crisis with a new dress. Lola dances for her Mami, who later joins the dance, suddenly and inexplicably attired in a flamenco dress. Readers may also be confused by the title (the word fandango never appears in the story, only in a note), as well as the shift from sibling jealousy to flamenco without return.
A passable effort with some high points. (author’s note, Spanish glossary, CD; not heard) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-84686-174-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Barefoot Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
An absolute pleasure.
A small dog takes a huge leap.
True to her name, sled dog puppy Leap spends her days bounding happily through blankets of freshly fallen snow, bouncily biding her time until she, too, can suit up for a run with the team. Each dog brings a different, equally essential skill to the work of mushing, and as too-young Leap greets the pack when they return from their daily hike, she worries—what if she lacks a special talent of her own when it’s her time to race? But when the much-anticipated day arrives and Leap clips in for her rookie run, her feet tippity-tap excitedly, any trace of self-doubt eclipsed by her irrepressible enthusiasm. With their new addition in tow, the other dogs take off, buoyed as ever by a confidence borne from specialized expertise; they confront obstacles head-on, sailing easily along icy Northwoods terrain. That is until the team encounters a seemingly insurmountable hurdle, one that only their greenest member can clear. Dogsled racer Braverman’s sweet narrative builds a satisfying case for individuality as a community asset, celebrating both the value of teamwork and the discrete strengths that comprise it. Savvy readers will take pride in predicting Leap’s unique contribution, while canine lovers will delight in the revelation that the pups depicted are all real-life sled dogs working in northern Wisconsin. When’s illustrations are equal parts spellbinding and precious, deftly balancing compositional simplicity with masterful color work. The result is peerless.
An absolute pleasure. (author’s note) (Picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: Oct. 21, 2025
ISBN: 9780063238053
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
A salubrious object lesson of playing for playing’s sake.
The story of a pig, perhaps a tad delusional but all guns and going for Olympic gold.
Jamieson’s young porker, Boomer, is the first pig to compete in the history of the Animal Olympics. He’s a charger—“Hard work and practice make an Olympic champion”—but still a pig: not as strong as the elephant, as speedy as the cheetah or as brawny as the gorilla. A mean-spirited reporter tries to diminish his hopes, yet Boomer can only see gold dancing before his eyes. And they are wonderful eyes, enormously expressive in his great pig head as he proceeds to get trounced in every event. The reporter needles Boomer after every loss, and Boomer finally snaps when his cannonball fails to impress the diving judges: “Who made you the boss? No fair! Lawsuit, buddy!” He quits. But his mother tells him how proud she is, and he returns for a slam-bang finale. Hope springs eternal; it’s not winning, but how you play the game; you can’t win them all. True, but Boomer makes such a hash of each contest, perhaps it is best just to say that he is a good sport, and good sports make sports good. Though the story doesn’t turn any new ground, Jamieson’s affective artwork, with its brio and dash, endows Boomer with an attractive personality, no matter his flaws.
A salubrious object lesson of playing for playing’s sake. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: July 5, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3536-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: April 10, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
