by Aram Kim ; illustrated by Aram Kim ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 5, 2017
This brisk, bright family story effectively conveys a universal experience through a very specific cultural lens.
A young Korean girl finds a way to enjoy a traditional dish.
Yoomi, her brothers, and their grandmother are anthropomorphic cats. On a rainy day, Grandma calls the children down for lunch. Yoomi likes most foods that Grandma prepares, but she just doesn’t care for kimchi. Her older siblings use this against her, calling her a “baby” and excluding her from their after-lunch activities. Yoomi tries on her own to find a combination of foods that will make the spicy, fermented dish palatable, but cookies, pizza, and ice cream don’t do the trick. Grandma’s solution is to prepare a (savory) kimchi pancake; the author’s mother’s recipe for this delicacy is appended. Kim’s straightforward text conveys the actions and reactions of her characters clearly. The illustrations, created with pencil, colored pencils, and pastels on paper, then assembled digitally, vary in size and placement, adding interest and flow to the story. Distinctive patterns, unusual perspectives, and intriguing details add to their appeal. While the featured food may be unfamiliar to some listeners, the family dynamics will ring true. The final page, complete with a rainbow, may cast a more rosy than realistic light on the resolution of typical sibling squabbles, but readers, like Yoomi, will appreciate this minor triumph.
This brisk, bright family story effectively conveys a universal experience through a very specific cultural lens. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3762-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
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by Hoda Kotb ; illustrated by Chloe Dominique ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 5, 2024
Pleasant enough but not particularly original.
Uplifting messages of positivity from the Today show anchor.
Hope springs eternal, so the saying goes. Kotb agrees, here delivering to children the cheery news that hope lives inside all of them and that whatever they might wish for can be theirs. All they need is a sunny outlook, and the possibilities for happy outcomes are virtually endless. Children’s dreams can be in-the-moment ones—like purple ice cream with whipped cream and a cherry—or more far-ranging ones, such as growing tall enough to reach that high shelf easily or for hair that’s long enough to braid. It doesn’t matter, the author reassures young readers. Your aspirations will be realized, so don’t give up on them—just keep believing in them and, most of all, in yourself. Throughout, Kotb calls hope a rainbow, a feeling, a gift, and a wish. Hope is “new friends you’ll find— / friends who are loving and funny and kind.” Hope is “practicing your heart out, letter by letter.” The book’s overarching theme is upbeat, but its bouncy rhyming text is clumsy. The child-appealing illustrations are colorful and lively, though they have a generic look. The cast of wide-eyed characters is racially diverse; some have visible disabilities.
Pleasant enough but not particularly original. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9780593624128
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Flamingo Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 16, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2024
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by Hoda Kotb ; illustrated by Suzie Mason
by Karma Wilson ; illustrated by Jane Chapman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 16, 2024
Cheery fun that will leave series fans “egg”-static.
In his latest outing, Bear and his pals go in search of eggs.
Bear “lumbers with his friends through the Strawberry Vale.” Raven finds a nest; climbing up, “The bear finds eggs!”: a refrain that appears throughout. Instead of eating the robin’s eggs, however, Bear leaves a gift of dried berries in the nest for the “soon-to-be-chicks.” Next, the friends find 10 mallard eggs (as bright blue as the robin’s), and Bear leaves sunflower seeds. Then the wail of Mama Meadowlark, whose bright yellow undercarriage strikes a warm golden note, leads them to promise to find her lost eggs. With his friends’ assistance, Bear finds one, and they decide to paint them “so they aren’t lost again.” Another is discovered, painted, and placed in Hare’s basket. After hours of persistent searching, Bear suddenly spots the remaining two eggs “in a small patch of clover.” Before they can return these eggs, the chicks hatch and rejoin their mother. Back at his lair, Bear, with his troupe, is visited by all 17 chicks and the robin, mallard, and meadowlark moms: “And the bear finds friends!” Though this sweet spring tale centers on finding and painting eggs, it makes no overt references to Easter. The soft green and blue acrylics, predictable rhymes, and rolling rhythm make this series installment another low-key natural read-aloud.
Cheery fun that will leave series fans “egg”-static. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 16, 2024
ISBN: 9781665936552
Page Count: 40
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2024
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by Karma Wilson ; illustrated by AG Ford
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