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
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.
The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This warm family story is a splendid showcase for the combined talents of Medina, a Pura Belpré award winner, and Dominguez,...
Abuela is coming to stay with Mia and her parents. But how will they communicate if Mia speaks little Spanish and Abuela, little English? Could it be that a parrot named Mango is the solution?
The measured, evocative text describes how Mia’s español is not good enough to tell Abuela the things a grandmother should know. And Abuela’s English is too poquito to tell Mia all the stories a granddaughter wants to hear. Mia sets out to teach her Abuela English. A red feather Abuela has brought with her to remind her of a wild parrot that roosted in her mango trees back home gives Mia an idea. She and her mother buy a parrot they name Mango. And as Abuela and Mia teach Mango, and each other, to speak both Spanish and English, their “mouths [fill] with things to say.” The accompanying illustrations are charmingly executed in ink, gouache, and marker, “with a sprinkling of digital magic.” They depict a cheery urban neighborhood and a comfortable, small apartment. Readers from multigenerational immigrant families will recognize the all-too-familiar language barrier. They will also cheer for the warm and loving relationship between Abuela and Mia, which is evident in both text and illustrations even as the characters struggle to understand each other. A Spanish-language edition, Mango, Abuela, y yo, gracefully translated by Teresa Mlawer, publishes simultaneously.
This warm family story is a splendid showcase for the combined talents of Medina, a Pura Belpré award winner, and Dominguez, an honoree. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6900-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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