by Beverly Stacy Dittmer ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 30, 2015
A useful resource for children with a relative or friend fighting cancer.
Dittmer (Breast Cancer: The Unplanned Journey—Lessons Learned, 2011) and illustrator Stacy use the approachable and comforting perspective of a stuffed bear to help children cope with and understand the changes affecting a cancer patient.
Cancer can be scary, not just for the people going through it, but also for the children watching them suffer. Bear, a stuffed bear, has a halo and wings and a desire to help. Santa gave Bear to Lilli when she was sick, yet when Lilli’s grandmother is diagnosed with cancer, Lilli decides that the best thing she can do is send Bear to help. At first, Bear is nervous he might catch cancer from Grandmother B, but Lilli explains cancer isn’t contagious. Grandmother B is glad to have Bear beside her to fight her cancer “battle.” Grandmother B, Grandpa Paul, Mr. Pye (the cat), and Bear soon move to a big city, where Grandmother B can have easier access to the hospital for her cancer treatments. Bear sticks with Grandmother B through the whole process: removing her breasts so the cancer won’t spread, taking the “strong medicine” of chemotherapy, her hair falling out, visiting a counselor (who “helps Grandmother B feel better in her mind”), and finally celebrating her recovery. Each step of the way, Bear’s growing understanding is delivered in accessible prose. Dittmer never shies away from the realities of cancer, even the possibility of death. Instead, Bear delivers these ideas in ways that make them approachable for children, especially those who live in a faith-driven environment. Vocabulary is explained well, with new words defined in the text as Bear learns how to use medical terms. The amount of text puts it at an independent-reading level, but the ideas and tone are better geared toward younger lap readers. A guide in the back also helps parents know how to approach the text and talk about cancer with their children. Stacy’s child-friendly illustrations are in a simplistic cartoon style, with each page prominently featuring the cute stuffed animal.
A useful resource for children with a relative or friend fighting cancer.Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2015
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Western Computer Publishing
Review Posted Online: Oct. 20, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Dan Saks ; illustrated by Brooke Smart ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2020
A joyful celebration.
Families in a variety of configurations play, dance, and celebrate together.
The rhymed verse, based on a song from the Noodle Loaf children’s podcast, declares that “Families belong / Together like a puzzle / Different-sized people / One big snuggle.” The accompanying image shows an interracial couple of caregivers (one with brown skin and one pale) cuddling with a pajama-clad toddler with light brown skin and surrounded by two cats and a dog. Subsequent pages show a wide array of families with members of many different racial presentations engaging in bike and bus rides, indoor dance parties, and more. In some, readers see only one caregiver: a father or a grandparent, perhaps. One same-sex couple with two children in tow are expecting another child. Smart’s illustrations are playful and expressive, curating the most joyful moments of family life. The verse, punctuated by the word together, frequently set in oversized font, is gently inclusive at its best but may trip up readers with its irregular rhythms. The song that inspired the book can be found on the Noodle Loaf website.
A joyful celebration. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-22276-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Rise x Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2020
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by Loren Long & illustrated by Loren Long ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2009
Continuing to find inspiration in the work of Virginia Lee Burton, Munro Leaf and other illustrators of the past, Long (The Little Engine That Could, 2005) offers an aw-shucks friendship tale that features a small but hardworking tractor (“putt puff puttedy chuff”) with a Little Toot–style face and a big-eared young descendant of Ferdinand the bull who gets stuck in deep, gooey mud. After the big new yellow tractor, crowds of overalls-clad locals and a red fire engine all fail to pull her out, the little tractor (who had been left behind the barn to rust after the arrival of the new tractor) comes putt-puff-puttedy-chuff-ing down the hill to entice his terrified bovine buddy successfully back to dry ground. Short on internal logic but long on creamy scenes of calf and tractor either gamboling energetically with a gaggle of McCloskey-like geese through neutral-toned fields or resting peacefully in the shade of a gnarled tree (apple, not cork), the episode will certainly draw nostalgic adults. Considering the author’s track record and influences, it may find a welcome from younger audiences too. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-399-25248-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2009
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