A whimsical children’s book full of fascinating forgotten history.
Three children take a magical journey to the past, marveling at forgotten discoveries and appreciating new cultures along the way in Costagliola’s chapter book.
The author sets her story in Vero Beach, Florida, rendered in picturesque detail. Seven-year-old twins Alex and Ella spend their days at a colorful and quaint retirement home called Discovery Casa, where their mother works as a nurse. One day, the twins meet Layla, an inquisitive 6-year-old visiting her Abuelita. As children do, they become fast friends, excitedly bonding over their dreams of adventure and discovery. As the children and Abuelita discuss culture and heritage (“This is the dress I made for the Pollera Conga, a Panamanian festival that celebrates our African heritage”)—consistent themes throughout the book—Abuelita mentions a mysterious new resident named Art, and the intrigued children set out to find him. They stumble across an open door to a space covered with paintings, the most interesting of which depicts a woman on a beach surrounded by dinosaurs. Just as they begin to ponder why a woman would be among the prehistoric beasts, the painting begins to swirl, creating a vortex that transports the kids right out of Discovery Casa and onto that very beach in 1830. Here, they are guided by Emet, a comical talking paintbrush, who introduces them to their very first piece of forgotten history: Mary Anning, a pioneering paleontologist and the woman in the painting with the dinosaurs. The kids spend the rest of this quick, delightful read digging for fossils, learning cool history, and making a new friend. With evenly paced, polished prose, Costagliola crafts the perfect start to a series of books for young readers. The characters are charming and center the whimsical world of time travel, talking paintbrushes, and magical art in relatable reality. Most importantly, the powerful themes of culture, history, and justice ensure that this book will stick with both kids and adults.
A whimsical children’s book full of fascinating forgotten history.Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781956906455
Page Count: 81
Publisher: wee b. books
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
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