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MOLLY AND THE MAGIC WISHBONE

McClintock (The Tale of Tricky Fox, 2000, etc.) takes as inspiration Dickens’s story of the magic fishbone, filling it out with a wonderful cast of animals and fine, handsome drawings with a decidedly Victorian flavor. Molly encounters her fairy godmother at the market and is alerted to a magic fishbone, which she will find at dinner that night and learns it will grant her one wish. When the bone is found, the other kittens—dedicated materialists all—give her a few suggestions: toys, cakes, and pretty dresses. But Molly, wise puss, decides to sleep on the wish. The kittens beseech her to use it to cure their ailing rabbit, but Molly sees that she is only about to give birth; they want her to use it to mend a broken bowl, their mother’s favorite, but Molly deploys the glue pot. Wish that ghost out of our room, they beg, until Molly shows them it is only a shadow. The next day the littlest kitten goes to market to get a magic bone of her own. All she gets is lost, and Molly’s wish is a foregone conclusion. McClintock gets the pacing just right, both in word and illustration, and, for a story that is tailor made to be preachy, the twin lessons of patience and levelheadedness feel like they were used for good rather than to browbeat. Magic, indeed. (Picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001

ISBN: 0-374-34999-1

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Frances Foster/Farrar, Straus & Giroux

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2001

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THERE'S A ROCK CONCERT IN MY BEDROOM

Nice enough but not worth repeat reads.

Emma deals with jitters before playing the guitar in the school talent show.

Pop musician Kevin Jonas and his wife, Danielle, put performance at the center of their picture-book debut. When Emma is intimidated by her very talented friends, the encouragement of her younger sister, Bella, and the support of her family help her to shine her own light. The story is straightforward and the moral familiar: Draw strength from your family and within to overcome your fears. Employing the performance-anxiety trope that’s been written many times over, the book plods along predictably—there’s nothing really new or surprising here. Dawson’s full-color digital illustrations center a White-presenting family along with Emma’s three friends of color: Jamila has tanned skin and wears a hijab; Wendy has dark brown skin and Afro puffs; and Luis has medium brown skin. Emma’s expressive eyes and face are the real draw of the artwork—from worry to embarrassment to joy, it’s clear what she’s feeling. A standout double-page spread depicts Emma’s talent show performance, with a rainbow swirl of music erupting from an amp and Emma rocking a glam outfit and electric guitar. Overall, the book reads pretty plainly, buoyed largely by the artwork. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Nice enough but not worth repeat reads. (Picture book. 4-6)

Pub Date: March 29, 2022

ISBN: 978-0-593-35207-6

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin

Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022

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ONE FAMILY

A visually striking, engaging picture book that sends the message that everyone counts.

A playful counting book also acts as a celebration of family and human diversity.

Shannon’s text is delivered in spare, rhythmic, lilting verse that begins with one and counts up to 10 as it presents different groupings of things and people in individual families, always emphasizing the unitary nature of each combination. “One is six. One line of laundry. One butterfly’s legs. One family.” Gomez’s richly colored pictures clarify and expand on all that the text lists: For “six,” a picture showing six members of a multigenerational family of color includes a line of laundry with six items hanging from it outside of their windows, as well as the painting of a six-legged butterfly that a child in the family is creating. While text never directs the art to depict diverse individuals and family constellations, Gomez does just this in her illustrations. Interracial families are included, as are depictions of men with their arms around each other, and a Sikh man wearing a turban. This inclusive spirit supports the text’s culminating assertion that “One is one and everyone. One earth. One world. One family.”

A visually striking, engaging picture book that sends the message that everyone counts. (Picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: May 26, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-374-30003-6

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Frances Foster/Farrar, Straus & Giroux

Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2015

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