A sweet tale of two girls growing to understand their grandmother’s illness.
Two sisters learn an important lesson from their dog about how love can transcend illness in this debut picture book.
Begonia the dachshund just wants to go with her human family to visit Nana. But Begonia is too dirty because she was digging for flowers for Nana. The pooch is left at home when her pale-skinned humans—Emma, Kara, and their mom—take a gift to Nana they are sure will make her smile. But even when Nana opens the present, a quilt with her favorite birds, her “memory illness” means she doesn’t smile. Emma and Kara hatch a plan to make Nana laugh, and Begonia wants to help, but again she is left at home. When Kara and Emma’s best efforts fail, they realize that maybe what they need is exactly what Begonia is offering: a little canine love. The dog and the girls succeed, and even though Nana is still lost in memories, her love shines through. Coping with a grandparent with memory loss or a mental illness can be very difficult, and Gable captures that situation in the frustration of the girls and in their determination to reach their grandparent. Debut illustrator Stephenson's soft-hued images in ink and watercolor evoke the book’s subdued tone while also showing Begonia’s exuberance. The repeated phrase, “But no one hears Begonia,” gives lap readers a moment to chime in during the touching story.
A sweet tale of two girls growing to understand their grandmother’s illness.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: White Orchard Press
Review Posted Online: June 20, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.
The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
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