A great way for kids to learn about honesty and the electoral process.
In Puccia’s debut novel, a third-grade girl learns a little bit about politics—and a lot about friendship and believing in herself.
Samantha Pojanowski is the smart kid in her elementary-school class, which has earned her the unfortunate nickname of “Samantha Smartypants,” a moniker she tries her best to ignore, even though it bothers her. When their teacher announces that the class is going to learn about elections by electing their own class president, Samantha wants no part of it. After all, who would want to stand up in front of a class and make a speech? Puccia shows her emotional ups and downs, which will help young readers understand that they can still try things that scare them. When Samantha’s best friend, Peter Cavelli, nominates her, she does her best to decline. He believes in her, however, and she slowly begins to acclimate to the idea of becoming class president. Her first two tasks—making a poster and coming up with a slogan—crash and burn because she focuses too much on what’s important to her, instead of what’s important to the class. Peter helps her with her final task, which focuses on both. Although Samantha isn’t as popular or cool as her two opponents, she soon learns that straightforward honesty triumphs over broken campaign promises and lies. When she’s elected, she graciously gives credit to Peter for his ideas, and the two of them became co-presidents, which will help teach kids that it’s okay to share the glory. Puccia’s text is largely straightforward and engaging, which makes it accessible to early readers. (The opening is somewhat stilted, but the prose gains smoothness as the story goes on.) She provides plenty of details about the basics of real-life presidential elections, and keeps them compelling by weaving them into Samantha’s personal journey. The few illustrations, however, are rather simplistic, and add little value to the reading experience. Overall, however, Puccia’s sympathetic characters will draw readers in.
A great way for kids to learn about honesty and the electoral process.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1495280832
Page Count: 102
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Oct. 2, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
