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THE SUN PLAYED HIDE-AND-SEEK

Name: THE SUN PLAYED HIDE-AND-SEEK
Author: Brian P. Cleary
ISBN: 978-1-4677-2648-1

A PERSONIFICATION STORY

by Brian P. Cleary ; illustrated by Carol Crimmins ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2017

A sophisticated concept that will require some active teaching to communicate it.

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An illustrated primer that explains personification even as it employs it.

Cleary here tackles the concept of personification with the graphic assistance of Dublin-based illustrator Crimmins, making her picture-book debut. While other classmates are assigned “similes” and “puns,” Cleary’s primary-grade first-person speaker must give a presentation on the heady topic of personification, “something that gives human traits to stuff that isn’t people”—not exactly Webster’s definition but descriptive enough to get the creative wheels turning. Speaking in rhymed verse, the young girl reveals: “That ‘stuff’ could be a garbage truck, December, or the wind— / a noun that has no heartbeat, eyes, or mouth. / It compares what something does to things that people do, / like ‘Angry storms are marching through the South.’ ” Crimmins subtly doubles down on the fun with playful mixed-media illustrations, which depict a diverse classroom. Amber D. (a white girl assigned “similes”) holds a raspberry-pink lunchbox that features the face of a pig and says “hungry as a…,” while Angelo (a black boy tasked with “puns”) sports a T-shirt emblazoned with a strawberry-iced doughnut ringed by the cheery message “donut worry be happy.” Though Cleary cleverly employs numerous examples of personification as his speaker (who has light-brown skin, brown hair, and freckles) works through her project, they beg the question whether the children most likely to understand the concept will appreciate the picture-book format.

A sophisticated concept that will require some active teaching to communicate it. (Picture book. 7-12)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-4677-2648-1

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Millbrook/Lerner

Review Posted Online: July 16, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS

- BOOK REVIEW
EATING MY WORDS
by Brian P. Cleary ; illustrated by Brian P. Cleary

- BOOK REVIEW
CRUNCH AND CRACK, OINK AND WHACK!
by Brian P. Cleary ; illustrated by Pablo Pino

- BOOK REVIEW
UNDERNEATH MY BED
by Brian P. Cleary ; illustrated by Richard Watson

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LITTLE DAYMOND LEARNS TO EARN

by Daymond John ; illustrated by Nicole Miles ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 21, 2023

It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.

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How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!

John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)

Pub Date: March 21, 2023

ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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THE LAST LAST-DAY-OF-SUMMER

From the Legendary Alston Boys series , Vol. 1

by Lamar Giles ; illustrated by Dapo Adeola ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 2, 2019

This can’t be the last we ever hear of the Legendary Alston Boys of the purely surreal Logan County—imaginative,...

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Can this really be the first time readers meet the Legendary Alston Boys of Logan County? Cousins and veteran sleuths Otto and Sheed Alston show us that we are the ones who are late to their greatness.

These two black boys are coming to terms with the end of their brave, heroic summer at Grandma’s, with a return to school just right around the corner. They’ve already got two keys to the city, but the rival Epic Ellisons—twin sisters Wiki and Leen—are steadily gaining celebrity across Logan County, Virginia, and have in hand their third key to the city. No way summer can end like this! These young people are powerful, courageous, experienced adventurers molded through their heroic commitment to discipline and deduction. They’ve got their shared, lifesaving maneuvers committed to memory (printed in a helpful appendix) and ready to save any day. Save the day they must, as a mysterious, bendy gentleman and an oversized, clingy platypus have been unleashed on the city of Fry, and all the residents and their belongings seem to be frozen in time and place. Will they be able to solve this one? With total mastery, Giles creates in Logan County an exuberant vortex of weirdness, where the commonplace sits cheek by jowl with the utterly fantastic, and populates it with memorable characters who more than live up to their setting.

This can’t be the last we ever hear of the Legendary Alston Boys of the purely surreal Logan County—imaginative, thrill-seeking readers, this is a series to look out for. (Fantasy. 10-12)