A quietly effective look at how we learn and come together.
Music lessons strengthen intergenerational connections in Simmonds’ children’s book.
Kayson, a young Black boy, is the middle of three brothers. Though the boys are all avid athletes, their parents want them to be well-rounded, which means adding music lessons to their lists of activities. For Kayson, that means learning to play the piano. Getting him to lessons can be difficult with the family’s busy schedule, so his Papa helps out, escorting Kayson to his Suzuki-style classes. Papa is surprised that Kayson isn’t learning to read notes, but he keeps an open mind as Kayson explains his teacher’s process. Papa has questions about the tablet Kayson uses, and Kayson gets to teach him about technology. Just before the big recital, Kayson tears his shirt trying to keep up with his siblings, and his older brother Kendall steps in to help out. With his extended family sitting in the audience, Kayson deals with his nerves, puts his lessons to work, and gives his solo debut. The book tells a simple story of one boy’s learning process as he not only absorbs the lessons taught by his piano teacher but also explains them to a curious Papa, who comes to see the value of the Suzuki method even though it differs from the more traditional method of music instruction he is familiar with. (“I guess there is more than one way to learn,” Papa says after the recital.) The book is not entirely subtle in its messaging (Papa says “practice makes perfect” more than once), but it still tells an enjoyable story. Dale’s colorful illustrations bring Kayson’s family to life in vibrant images of piano-playing and warm family scenes, including a particularly adept depiction of the chaos of getting everyone to games and practices on time.
A quietly effective look at how we learn and come together.Pub Date: Nov. 21, 2024
ISBN: 9781735029580
Page Count: 34
Publisher: INOT Productions, Inc.
Review Posted Online: Dec. 20, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
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