Ideal for only children and their perfectly sized families.
A heartwarming, insightful debut children’s book about an only child who wonders what it would be like to have a bigger family.
Natalie and her best friend, Shayla, are having the best summer. Both girls and their families are on a big camping trip, which means fishing, bonfires, s’mores, and everything else that the great outdoors has to offer. Sitting around the campfire, Natalie sees Shayla and her older brother, Steven, share a private giggle, and Natalie feels a twinge deep inside. As an only child, she wonders what it would be like to have a brother or sister. Shayla helps her weigh the pros and cons before retreating back to her family’s tent to play cards with Steven. As Natalie longingly looks at Shayla’s tent, Natalie’s dad sees her wistful expression. Using the night sky and the stars as a map, Natalie’s dad shows her how a family may not just be people who share a home—the stars that dance around their home constellation are special, too. Dibb’s book is a wonderful addition to any household with an only child. As Dibb says in her preface, parents may have many reasons for having only one child, and instead of having to explain those myriad and possibly complicated reasons to a child, this book directly addresses the child’s sense of longing. The prose is easy to understand (for little readers) without being dumbed down or overly clinical. Parents can inject their own personal stories after a reading. McAllister’s simple illustrations, in muted, pastel colors, enhance the tale.
Ideal for only children and their perfectly sized families.Pub Date: April 22, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-5043-2689-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: BalboaPress
Review Posted Online: Sept. 11, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The seemingly ageless Seeger brings back his renowned giant for another go in a tuneful tale that, like the art, is a bit sketchy, but chockful of worthy messages. Faced with yearly floods and droughts since they’ve cut down all their trees, the townsfolk decide to build a dam—but the project is stymied by a boulder that is too huge to move. Call on Abiyoyo, suggests the granddaughter of the man with the magic wand, then just “Zoop Zoop” him away again. But the rock that Abiyoyo obligingly flings aside smashes the wand. How to avoid Abiyoyo’s destruction now? Sing the monster to sleep, then make it a peaceful, tree-planting member of the community, of course. Seeger sums it up in a postscript: “every community must learn to manage its giants.” Hays, who illustrated the original (1986), creates colorful, if unfinished-looking, scenes featuring a notably multicultural human cast and a towering Cubist fantasy of a giant. The song, based on a Xhosa lullaby, still has that hard-to-resist sing-along potential, and the themes of waging peace, collective action, and the benefits of sound ecological practices are presented in ways that children will both appreciate and enjoy. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-83271-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2001
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