Poignant, broad strokes invite a deep delve.
“Peace is on purpose. / Peace is a choice. / Peace lets the smallest of us / have a voice.” In this attractive package, lyrical, rhyming text explores various forms of peace. A few usual laundry-list suspects are included: “Peace is a hello, / a smile, / a hug.” But the co-authors manage to slip in emotive twists: “Peace can be bold / or quiet and snug.” Extra attention is paid to inclusivity: “Peace is pronouncing / your friend’s name correctly. // Peace means we talk / to each other directly.” This imperative is found in the illustrations as well, in which a multiracial cast of children includes two who wear eyeglasses and one who walks with forearm crutches. Luscious scenes in warm, comforting hues show the children mixing with plump, pillowy animals in a variety of habitats (in one scene a snoozing lion acts as a literal pillow); an authors’ note takes an extra step: Peace means humans living in harmony with one another and living in balance with nature too. During war and conflict, wildlife is also affected. That note also explains that animals from Mozambique—war torn but recovering—grace the pages along with other national symbols of peace. The Pauls offer strong, bold words, hoping they’ll land in the hearts of children everywhere. The lulling text will work well to soothe young activists, but the tricky concept of peace requires an older understanding. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-17-inch double-page spreads viewed at 15.8% of actual size.)
Poignant, broad strokes invite a deep delve. (Picture book. 3-10)Pub Date: March 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7358-4449-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: NorthSouth
Review Posted Online: Dec. 24, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2021
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
From curds to riches, from meltdown to uplift—this multicourse romp delivers.
A winning wheel of cheddar with braggadocio to match narrates a tale of comeuppance and redemption.
From humble beginnings among kitchen curds living “quiet lives of pasteurization,” the Big Cheese longs to be the best and builds success and renown based on proven skills and dependable results: “I stuck to the things I was good at.” When newcomer Wedge moves to the village of Curds-on-Whey, the Cheese’s star status wobbles and falls. Turns out that quiet, modest Wedge is also multitalented. At the annual Cheese-cathlon, Wedge bests six-time winner Cheese in every event, from the footrace and chess to hat making and bread buttering. A disappointed Cheese throws a full-blown tantrum before arriving at a moment of truth: Self-calming, conscious breathing permits deep relief that losing—even badly—does not result in disaster. A debrief with Wedge “that wasn’t all about me” leads to further realizations: Losing builds empathy for others; obsession with winning obscures “the joy of participating.” The chastened cheddar learns to reserve bragging for lifting up friends, because anyone can be the Big Cheese. More didactic and less pun-rich than previous entries in the Food Group series, this outing nevertheless couples a cheerful refrain with pithy life lessons that hit home. Oswald’s detailed, comical illustrations continue to provide laughs, including a spot with Cheese onstage doing a “CHED” talk.
From curds to riches, from meltdown to uplift—this multicourse romp delivers. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9780063329508
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
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