Miss May’s grandmother has come for a school visit, which leads to discussion of how all grandmas have stories—and different names, depending on their backgrounds. A short, cheerful rhyme for each grandmother introduces what she is called by her grandchild, along with a bit about what the two do together. Colorful gouache-and-collage pictures show the members of the multicultural class with grandmothers, honorary grandmothers and step-grandmothers of different ages, races and ethnicities participating in activities from baking and going to work to canoeing and gardening. Includes a list of names for grandmothers used in the book and throughout the world, and a place in the initial pages for the book’s readers to draw or paste a picture and fill in the blank with a grandmother’s name. I Call My Grandpa Papa (ISBN: 978-1-58246-252-3) follows the same format. A nice choice for school and home, these selections incorporate warmth, gentle humor, a variety of languages and a range of family groupings while they show some of the many things that grandparent and grandchildren can do together. (Picture book. 3-7)
Pub Date: Aug. 11, 2009
ISBN: 978-1-58246-251-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tricycle
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2009
A warmhearted tale of a child, a dog, and their peaceful, friendly, and inviting neighborhood.
Readers are invited to match their observant eyes with those of a child out for an evening walk.
A young child of color puts on a red hoodie and goes for a walk in his neighborhood in the hours between sunset and bedtime. The neighborhood is mostly residential with two-story homes, apartment houses, and some small businesses. The family dog goes along as the child (referred to as “you” throughout in the second-person narrative) notes the animals—a cat and a raccoon—they pass by. The child notes the windows and what the people or animals that can be seen within their frames are doing; they may be playing an instrument or dancing or painting. At the end of the walk they go past a house with no lights on; its windows “leave you to fill them up with stories.” Finally, home beckons, and child and mother curl up in a comfy chair for a bedtime story. Denos’ story is quiet, thoughtful, and paced to the beat of a gentle rhythm. Debut illustrator Goodale’s delicately detailed ink, watercolor, letterpress, and digital collage illustrations display palettes of the evening and night skies with beautifully nuanced shades of yellow, gold, and blue. The red-hooded child of color with dog can’t help but recall Peter and Willie, and this book is a lovely, affirming follow-up.
A warmhearted tale of a child, a dog, and their peaceful, friendly, and inviting neighborhood. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 17, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7636-9035-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2017
Soul-stirring and sure to put readers in a festive mood.
Christmas spirit is expressed in joyous and reflective onomatopoeic exclamations in this new holiday staple, a follow-up to I Got the Rhythm (2014).
With her first yawn in the morning, the young black protagonist, coily ’fro on full display, excitedly wakes to the spirit of the season. Snowflakes flutter across bright illustrations, encouraging readers to inhale, feel, taste, and listen to all things Christmas as embodied in loving detail in the rhythmic language. The winter delights include ice skating (“SWISH SWISH”), caroling (“FA LA LA LA LA”), and the sparkling of Christmas lights (“BLING BLING”), whetting the appetites of young readers as they count down the days until Christmas. Each page sets a different scene, but the little girl, now with two adorable afro puffs, steals each one as she bops around town. Whether she’s letting the steam from roasted chestnuts curl around her face or advocating for others with Santa, she makes sure to show that the spirit of Christmas is not just the traditions enjoyed, but also the actions taken to share kindness and joy with others, because “THE SPIRIT IS YOU!” Author and illustrator capture children’s insistent acknowledgment of what adults often pretend not to see, in this case homeless members of the community, and they also emphasize the strength of will that allows the young protagonist to rise mightily to the occasion.
Soul-stirring and sure to put readers in a festive mood. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-68119-528-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
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