A fun story with high appeal for budding entrepreneurs.
An 8-year-old is eager for a new business venture.
Wednesday Wilson, a biracial girl with brown skin and wavy dark brown hair, wants to become an entrepreneur so that her two mothers will never have to worry again about paying the bills. Mum, who presents as White, with short, straight hair, owns a pizza truck, while Mom, who presents Black, with short Afro-textured hair, is an artist. While Wednesday and her friend Charlie have yet to find success in business, they refuse to give up. They have the day off from school, so they decide to go over business ideas. But then Mom invites over Wednesday and Charlie’s former friend Ruby. Ruby’s new friendship with mean girls known as the Emmas troubles both Wednesday and Charlie. During breakfast with Wednesday’s younger brother, Mister, Ruby provides helpful input—can Wednesday, Charlie, and Ruby rekindle their friendship? The three of them, along with Mister, plan a dog-walking business, pivot to a makeup service that paints freckles on clients, execute their new plan, and call in help when needed. This upbeat story provides readers with information and vocabulary for building a business but even greater lessons about friendship, communication, and self-worth. In the cartoonlike illustrations, Ruby is brown-skinned, while Charlie is light-skinned.
A fun story with high appeal for budding entrepreneurs. (Chapter book. 6-8)Pub Date: June 6, 2023
ISBN: 9781525303296
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Sure to give recent Henry & Mudge grads a happy buzz.
Winter’s arrival leaves sleepy Honey Bee in no mood to entertain her still-antsy friend.
Having quickly run through all the possibilities for solitary activities, Ant ignores her bigger buddy’s “bee-mail” brushoff and heads out into the “rainy and complain-y” weather to pay a call. Grumpy reception notwithstanding (“Honey Bee sure had her stinger out today”), Ant’s relentless persistence ultimately pays off in a cooperatively assembled “peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich”—actually a bowl of milk with some chips in it—enhanced, “Stone Soup” style, with raisins, maple syrup, goldfish crackers, gummy worms, squeeze cheese, ketchup and even stored-away honey. “It’s very antsome,” admits Honey Bee. And the towering result makes a perfect final snack before cuddling down on a shared couch for a long winter’s nap. McDonald’s three-chapter tale offers an entertaining mix of wordplay and amusing back-and-forth conversation—not to mention delicious kitchen antics and, from Karas, cartoon illustrations rich in both visual gags (“Napping House” reads the sign outside Old Man Spider’s home) and small but clear cues to the mutual regard lurking under the (four-limbed, but never mind) insect friends’ moods.
Sure to give recent Henry & Mudge grads a happy buzz. (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5712-3
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The story could use a little more internal logic, but Judge’s art stands out. (Picture book. 6-8)
Like one of Sendak’s wild things embarking on a journey of its own, the hairy monster in this boiled-down quest tale abruptly sets out for parts unknown.
Being a featureless, tree-sized black silhouette with two yellow eyes, the solitary Beast looks menacing but leads a peaceable existence in a remote forest. Responding to a sudden yen for companionship, he departs one day on a long trek over land and under sea—arriving at last, after many adventures, in a city whose residents quickly get over their initial terror to make him welcome as a gardener in the local park. Being lonely still, he broadcasts public appeals in hopes of reaching others of his kind, then, when that gets no response, sets out again, retracing his original route. Using what looks like paint and cut-paper collage, Judge creates open settings in artfully contrasted colors and textures that give his central figure both a strong visual presence and an enigmatic air carrying hints of deeper meanings. Or maybe not: The Beast arrives back in his garden to find that other Beasts have gathered from all over the world to throw him a surprise party and to stick around forever after for nightly wild rumpuses.
The story could use a little more internal logic, but Judge’s art stands out. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7613-8097-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Andersen Press USA
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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