by Brian P. Cleary ; illustrated by Brian Gable ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2013
Not as successful as some of their grammar and other math titles, still, this may help teachers put time in perspective.
Cleary and Gable’s cool cats tackle the topic of time.
“Time can be measured in seconds, in minutes, in days, or in weeks, months, or years / by watches or calendars, cell phones, computers, or clocks that ticktock with their gears.” Beginning with seconds, Cleary tackles each of these time measurements (as well as hours and decades), describing the things that can be done in each—four rounds of the birthday song might take a minute, for instance, while “If you rode your bike or you skated an hour, your legs would sure have to be strong!”—and how they compare to the others, i.e., seven days in a week and 60 minutes in an hour. Some of these explanations are better than others, though; the description of the number of days in a month is scant, and only February is mentioned (as having 28 days, 29 every four years). Cleary’s rhyming verses sometimes limp along, throwing off both meaning and rhythm to match the rhyme scheme. Gable’s cats are as full of personality as ever, and there are humorous situations aplenty in his artwork, though time is quite a tricky concept to try to illustrate.
Not as successful as some of their grammar and other math titles, still, this may help teachers put time in perspective. (Math picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-8225-7883-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Millbrook
Review Posted Online: July 2, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2013
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by Maribeth Boelts ; illustrated by Noah Z. Jones ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 4, 2016
Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on...
Continuing from their acclaimed Those Shoes (2007), Boelts and Jones entwine conversations on money, motives, and morality.
This second collaboration between author and illustrator is set within an urban multicultural streetscape, where brown-skinned protagonist Ruben wishes for a bike like his friend Sergio’s. He wishes, but Ruben knows too well the pressure his family feels to prioritize the essentials. While Sergio buys a pack of football cards from Sonny’s Grocery, Ruben must buy the bread his mom wants. A familiar lady drops what Ruben believes to be a $1 bill, but picking it up, to his shock, he discovers $100! Is this Ruben’s chance to get himself the bike of his dreams? In a fateful twist, Ruben loses track of the C-note and is sent into a panic. After finally finding it nestled deep in a backpack pocket, he comes to a sense of moral clarity: “I remember how it was for me when that money that was hers—then mine—was gone.” When he returns the bill to her, the lady offers Ruben her blessing, leaving him with double-dipped emotions, “happy and mixed up, full and empty.” Readers will be pleased that there’s no reward for Ruben’s choice of integrity beyond the priceless love and warmth of a family’s care and pride.
Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on children. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6649-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
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by Grant Snider ; illustrated by Grant Snider ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 5, 2023
Quietly contemplative and thoroughly lovely.
A child finds adventure and a change of perspective on a dreary day.
Clouds cover everything in a palette of unending gray, creating a sense of ennui and gloom. A child stands alone, head down, feeling as gray as the day, and decides to ride through town on an old bike. Pops of color throughout the grayscale illustrations go unnoticed—there are yellow leaves scattered about, and the parking lot is filled with bright yellow buses, but this child, who has skin the grayish white of the page, sees only the empty playground, creaky swings, a sad merry-go-round, and lonely seesaws. But look—there’s a narrow winding path just beyond the fence, something to explore. There are things to be noticed, leaves to be crunched, and discoveries to be made. Imagination takes over, along with senses of wonderment and calm, as the child watches a large blue bird fly over the area. The ride home is quite different, joyful and filled with color previously ignored, reaffirming the change in the rider’s outlook. The descriptive, spare text filled with imagery and onomatopoeia is well aligned with well-rendered art highlighting all the colors that brighten the not-so-gray day and allowing readers to see what the protagonist struggles to understand, that “anything can happen…on a gray day.” (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Quietly contemplative and thoroughly lovely. (Picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781797210896
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: June 8, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
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