The positive message of self-confidence and potential makes this work a valuable addition to collections in need of...
Perpetually underrepresented in picture books, black children star in this tale about a neighborhood populated by kids with unlimited possibilities.
In this work by mother-son team Bynum (I’m a Lovely Little Latina!, 2015, etc.) and debut author Drummond, a young black boy named Joshua and his mother discuss the stars and what it means to be brilliant. “You are like a star / that lights everything / in every way,” his mother tells him. Her advice, “Be brilliant,” guides the boy through his academic, artistic, athletic, and social achievements. Illustrator McGee (Brotherman, 2016, etc.) peppers the background of Joshua’s room with details of his accomplishments: a poster reads “Student of the Month,” a superhero cape hangs on a coat stand, and objects like a basketball, a pickle jar containing some sort of collection, and a U.S. map on the wall suggest his varied interests. At school, Joshua shows his creativity and smarts by demonstrating pirate speech, leading a class experiment with a volcano, imagining colorful subjects to paint in art class, and freestyling poetry with his friends at lunch. He shows his bravery after school by rescuing a cat and turning a bully into a friend. Wanting to grow his allowance instead of just saving it, he starts a candy and lemonade stand before getting a haircut at the barbershop, playing basketball, building a fort on a community green with his friends, and finally convincing the group of the kindness in releasing caught fireflies. As the upbeat book closes, Joshua dreams of being an astrophysicist and embraces his bright future: “As I grow, and grow, / and grow…I’ll study hard / to make it so!” The rhythm in the poetry may not be intuitive to audiences used to formal ABAB stanzas, but by reading the text aloud, particularly the section on Joshua’s poetry, the complex beat becomes more obvious (“Hear my life, through spoken word, / my voice lifts like wings of a bird! / When I speak rhymes, then I am heard. / My rhymes fly free like flying birds, / instead, the sky’s painted with words!”). McGee’s vibrant images are full of detail, and he embraces a diversity of shapes and skin tones among the neighborhood’s black children.
The positive message of self-confidence and potential makes this work a valuable addition to collections in need of diversifying their shelves with illustrated volumes featuring modern black characters.Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-692-55532-3
Page Count: 34
Publisher: PaperUp Publishing
Review Posted Online: Nov. 10, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A nice but not requisite purchase.
A retelling of the classic fairy tale in board-book format and with a Mexican setting.
Though simplified for a younger audience, the text still relates the well-known tale: mean-spirited stepmother, spoiled stepsisters, overworked Cinderella, fairy godmother, glass slipper, charming prince, and, of course, happily-ever-after. What gives this book its flavor is the artwork. Within its Mexican setting, the characters are olive-skinned and dark-haired. Cultural references abound, as when a messenger comes carrying a banner announcing a “FIESTA” in beautiful papel picado. Cinderella is the picture of beauty, with her hair up in ribbons and flowers and her typically Mexican many-layered white dress. The companion volume, Snow White, set in Japan and illustrated by Misa Saburi, follows the same format. The simplified text tells the story of the beautiful princess sent to the forest by her wicked stepmother to be “done away with,” the dwarves that take her in, and, eventually, the happily-ever-after ending. Here too, what gives the book its flavor is the artwork. The characters wear traditional clothing, and the dwarves’ house has the requisite shoji screens, tatami mats and cherry blossoms in the garden. The puzzling question is, why the board-book presentation? Though the text is simplified, it’s still beyond the board-book audience, and the illustrations deserve full-size books.
A nice but not requisite purchase. (Board book/fairy tale. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-7915-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Playful, engaging, and full of opportunities for empathy—a raucous storytime hit.
Readers try to dislodge a monster from the pages of this emotive and interactive read-aloud.
“OH NO!” the story starts. “There’s a monster in your book!” The blue, round-headed monster with pink horns and a pink-tipped tail can be seen cheerfully munching on the opening page. “Let’s try to get him out,” declares the narrator. Readers are encouraged to shake, tilt, and spin the book around, while the monster careens around an empty background looking scared and lost. Viewers are exhorted to tickle the monster’s feet, blow on the page, and make a really loud noise. Finally, shockingly, it works: “Now he’s in your room!” But clearly a monster in your book is safer than a monster in your room, so he’s coaxed back into the illustrations and lulled to sleep, curled up under one page and cuddling a bit of another like a child with their blankie. The monster’s entirely cute appearance and clear emotional reactions to his treatment add to the interactive aspect, and some young readers might even resist the instructions to avoid hurting their new pal. Children will be brought along on the monster’s journey, going from excited, noisy, and wiggly to calm and steady (one can hope).
Playful, engaging, and full of opportunities for empathy—a raucous storytime hit. (Picture book. 2-7)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5247-6456-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: June 4, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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