A contemplative, enigmatic exploration of life on planet Earth.
Love examines the natural world in all its varied capacities.
This lyrical exploration of the world, inspired by a poem by Sharon Olds, leans on a repeated refrain in which love asks something (a creature, thing, or idea) what it knows. Honeybees, for instance, know “the hexagon and the color gold.” The musings are philosophical, ecological, poetic, and even sociological in nature: A historian, for instance, “knows history speaks when we listen for the quietest stories among the stories.” Many spreads focus on the natural world and the animals in it, but readers also hear from farmers (including, refreshingly, a brown-skinned female farmer) and courage, which knows “the daily work of keeping on.” Things even take a cosmological turn when readers hear from the Seven Sisters, who know “the language of light.” There are references to “the elders” and “ancestors,” and many of these spreads let Mother Nature take the focus; humans (most are Black or brown skinned) are part of the land, not creatures who lord over it. Both text and art seem intentionally open-ended, leaving space for readers to extend meaning in their own ways, making it a fitting writing prompt for students (of all ages). Slightly muted, earth-toned illustrations feature flowing lines—from the multicolored furrows of a farmer’s plowed field to the rays of light in a starry night sky—that compel page turns.
A contemplative, enigmatic exploration of life on planet Earth. (Picture book. 5-12)Pub Date: July 13, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-59270-321-0
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Enchanted Lion Books
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
Affecting and hopeful.
A stray dog finds her destiny amid the chaos of a Southern California wildfire.
Wombat is a small dog with stubby legs and “silly ears / that look like furry cookies”—almost impossibly cute in Bricking’s occasional pencil-style vignettes. She’s mastered the art of survival, so when a mysterious internal voice prods her to go toward the fire, she resists. “The wrong way is the right way. / The right way is the wrong way,” the voice insists. When she tells fellow stray Silas about it, he tells Wombat she’s a “destiny dog,” bound to “find their person / before their person / can find them.” Convinced, she decides to follow the mysterious instructions. Meanwhile, Henry, a boy who’s leery of dogs, loves the bats at the wildlife rehabilitation center where Mama Ro, a veterinarian, works; his Mama J is a librarian. Henry and Barnabas, a fruit bat at the center, are both uprooted by the fire, and their paths converge with Wombat’s at an emergency shelter. The third-person perspective shifts from character to character in clusters of free-verse poems that fully immerse readers in each one’s experiences in turn. This extra-concentrated delivery of Applegate’s typically spare writing proves effective, balancing terror and sadness with heart and humor. Henry has light brown skin, Mama Ro has curly black hair and brown skin, and Mama J presents white.
Affecting and hopeful. (Verse fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: May 5, 2026
ISBN: 9780063221178
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Storytide/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
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