Small gestures have large rewards—everyone could do with a little inspiration of how to spread some happy.
Over 75 acts of kindness for kids to share.
Inspired to do one act of kindness every day for 366 days (it was a leap year) after the 2011 U.K. riots, Russell is now spreading her creative ideas with children. She encourages them to become undercover agents in the Kindness Club and commit acts of “ninja niceness.” Suggestions range from the simple (smile at someone—in fact, keep a tally of how many smiles are returned and have a competition with a friend) to the sly (commit a “reverse robbery” by sneaking a treat into someone’s pocket or bag, instead of out!). Or why not be completely wacky and create a “welcome home” banner for mom or dad, on an ordinary day? With bold colors and a smattering of varied typefaces and patterns, even the design of the book radiates joy. Adults may be wary of interactions with strangers, but the acts can be limited to family or friends if nervous. Suitable for a wide variety of ages, in any part of the country, acts of kindness have no boundaries. Russell does encourage writing in the book, with a small box in each section to check when completed, but that shouldn’t deter library purchases.
Small gestures have large rewards—everyone could do with a little inspiration of how to spread some happy. (Nonfiction. 7-12)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-61067-255-9
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Kane Miller
Review Posted Online: June 5, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2015
Chicken sexer? Breath odor evaluator? Cryptozoologist? Island caretaker? The choices dazzle! (Informational picture book....
From funeral clown to cheese sculptor, a tally of atypical trades.
This free-wheeling survey, framed as a visit to “The Great Hall of Jobs,” is designed to shake readers loose from simplistic notions of the world of work. Labarre opens with a generic sculpture gallery of, as she puts it, “The Classics”—doctor, dancer, farmer, athlete, chef, and the like—but quickly moves on, arranging busy cartoon figures by the dozen in kaleidoscopic arrays, with pithy captions describing each occupation. As changes of pace she also tucks in occasional challenges to match select workers (Las Vegas wedding minister, “ethical” hacker, motion-capture actor) with their distinctive tools or outfits. The actual chances of becoming, say, the queen’s warden of the swans or a professional mattress jumper, not to mention the nitty-gritty of physical or academic qualifications, income levels, and career paths, are left largely unspecified…but along with noting that new jobs are being invented all the time (as, in the illustration, museum workers wheel in a “vlogger” statue), the author closes with the perennial insight that it’s essential to love what you do and the millennial one that there’s nothing wrong with repeatedly switching horses midstream. The many adult figures and the gaggle of children (one in a wheelchair) visiting the “Hall” are diverse of feature, sex, and skin color.
Chicken sexer? Breath odor evaluator? Cryptozoologist? Island caretaker? The choices dazzle! (Informational picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: April 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5362-1219-8
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Nosy Crow
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
Starting with a lonely slice of pizza pictured on the cover and the first page, Thornhill launches into a wide-ranging study of the history and culture of food—where it comes from, how to eat it and what our food industries are doing to the planet. It’s a lot to hang on that slice of pizza, but there are plenty of interesting tidbits here, from Clarence Birdseye’s experiments with frozen food to how mad cow disease causes the brain to turn spongy to industrial food production and global warming. Unfortunately, the volume is designed like a bad high-school yearbook. Most pages are laid out in text boxes, each containing a paragraph on a discrete topic, but with little in the way of an organizing theme to tie together the content of the page or spread. Too many colors, too much jumbled-together information and total reliance on snippets of information make this a book for young readers more interested in browsing than reading. Kids at the upper edge of the book's range would be better served by Richie Chevat's adaptation of Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma (2009). (Nonfiction. 8-12)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-897349-96-0
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Maple Tree Press
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2010
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