A thoughtful, well-illustrated work about pursuing goals.
A girl hopes to dazzle the crowd at a talent show in Ho and Byrd’s debut picture book.
Mara dresses more colorfully than other residents of conformist Sametown, who all wear bland polo shirts. She’s planning to perform a dance routine at an upcoming talent show where everyone else is doing magic tricks. However, her teacher discourages her. Mara’s mother, however, knows exactly what to say to give her child courage. Right before her performance, it’s revealed that Mara uses a wheelchair; the stage isn’t accessible, and she must emotionally ground herself before asking for assistance. The book takes care to show that Mara’s difference from others in Sametown isn’t only her wheelchair use, but also her creativity and inventiveness. Co-author and dancer Ho discusses her own wheelchair use in an author’s note, which brings authenticity to the story. Rodriguez’s pleasing full-color illustrations are refreshingly diverse, featuring characters with varying skin tones; Mara and her mother are portrayed as Asian. The story flows nicely, but the talent show stakes are a bit unclear; although the audience and emcee are seemingly blown away, Mara doesn’t even place. Discussion questions will spark conversations about uniqueness and unpack biases about people who use wheelchairs.
A thoughtful, well-illustrated work about pursuing goals.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-0-9997050-7-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Jan. 6, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Continuing to find inspiration in the work of Virginia Lee Burton, Munro Leaf and other illustrators of the past, Long (The Little Engine That Could, 2005) offers an aw-shucks friendship tale that features a small but hardworking tractor (“putt puff puttedy chuff”) with a Little Toot–style face and a big-eared young descendant of Ferdinand the bull who gets stuck in deep, gooey mud. After the big new yellow tractor, crowds of overalls-clad locals and a red fire engine all fail to pull her out, the little tractor (who had been left behind the barn to rust after the arrival of the new tractor) comes putt-puff-puttedy-chuff-ing down the hill to entice his terrified bovine buddy successfully back to dry ground. Short on internal logic but long on creamy scenes of calf and tractor either gamboling energetically with a gaggle of McCloskey-like geese through neutral-toned fields or resting peacefully in the shade of a gnarled tree (apple, not cork), the episode will certainly draw nostalgic adults. Considering the author’s track record and influences, it may find a welcome from younger audiences too. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-399-25248-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2009
SEEN & HEARD
Earnest and well meaning but not quite a touchdown.
In Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Hurts’ motivational picture book, a youngster rebounds from disappointment.
As Jalen heads off on his first day of school, he daydreams about joining the football team, but his friend Trey soon breaks the bad news. The garden club needed more space for vegetables, so the football field was used for planting. There will be no football this year. Jalen is despondent, but his teachers Mrs. Lee and Mr. Barry and bodega owner Mr. Muhammad offer guidance that spurs him and his friends into positive action. They work to flip a nearby empty lot into a football field, with Jalen echoing his mentors’ adages. Once the field is complete, Jalen feels a swell of pride in his and his friends’ work. While the idea of kids working together to effect change is a laudable one, the bland, wordy storytelling won’t inspire young people or hold their attention. Tired, cliched inspirational comments peppered throughout often slow down the narrative, and many adult readers will find the premise—a school dropping a high-interest sports program in favor of a community garden—wildly unrealistic. Though the illustrations are colorful, with a Disney Junior charm, strange stylistic choices, such as signs with odd combinations of scribbles instead of letters, give them an unpolished look. Like Hurts, Jalen is Black; his community is diverse.
Earnest and well meaning but not quite a touchdown. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 10, 2026
ISBN: 9798217040308
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Flamingo Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2026
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