While the amusing scenario may prove to be more a nostalgia trip for adult readers than something today’s kids will...
Weekly Sunday visits from their two aunts and one uncle are so disagreeable that three children take steps to alter the atmosphere through some harmlessly exaggerated imitation.
Each Sunday afternoon the family guests arrive, heavily plop themselves on the living room furniture, and make negative, complaining and resigned statements. “Oy,” says Aunt Essy. “Feh,” says Aunt Chanah. “So?” says Uncle Sam. “That was all they ever said!” Despite the children’s parents’ attempts to make pleasant conversation or the children’s enthusiastic play-acting performed for the guests, the reaction is always the same uncongenial three words. Ink-and-watercolor illustrations depict Essy, Chanah and Sam with unflattering caricatures of stereotypical adult Jewish characters, with clownishly large noses, slouchy, overweight bodies and unsmiling faces. In exasperation, the children each take a role and comically mimic their aunts’ and uncle’s behavior, forcing laughter and recognition. This mishpocheh now redeems itself with a newfound willingness to tell family stories and loving childhood memories; the palette here modulates from muted tones to bright, sunny colors.
While the amusing scenario may prove to be more a nostalgia trip for adult readers than something today’s kids will immediately recognize, they will appreciate the overall sentiment even if they miss the Yiddish essence. Nu? (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-55498-148-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: Feb. 26, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A bit message-heavy and twee, but feline fans will show up.
Spinach wants to fit in with the other kittens (and secretly dreams of being a superkitty).
Because of a malformed chest, Spinach can’t play like the other kittens in the shelter. She longs for a blue card on her kennel, which means a cat is bound for Foreverland. Instead, she’s whisked away to a strange room full of humans in white coats, where she learns that she has a condition called pectus excavatum. When she awakens after an operation, she finds a plate on her chest and believes it gives her superpowers. She’s moved to Fosterland, where she meets another kitten called Chickpea, who looks up to Spinach. The duo escape their enclosure, avoid a giant human, and discover a group of kittens trapped in a strange machine. Can they rescue the kittens? And what happens when Spinach’s chest plate vanishes? The second in cat rescuer and internet personality Shaw’s series is mostly unconnected to the first. The cats use words and concepts they could not have encountered in their lives while misunderstanding others for effect and plot (Spinach knows what a lasso and ice cubes are but thinks that a cat carrier is a hovercraft). The can-do message is repeated to the point of didacticism. Experienced chapter readers may be put off. Upping the sweetness quotient, Johnson’s adorable, black-and-white full-page and spot illustrations are a plus.
A bit message-heavy and twee, but feline fans will show up. (information about the real Spinach and Chickpea) (Fiction. 5-7)Pub Date: June 7, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-66590-125-3
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An honest look at motherhood in the contemporary era and a sweet tribute to the bond between mother and child.
Grammy-winning, multiplatinum singer/songwriter Rowland teams up with California teacher McKay to celebrate busy moms.
This picture book highlights a mother’s frequent longing to be with her child when life’s demands pull them apart. The story takes us through a busy Black mom’s week: She goes to work (at a construction site where she appears to be an engineer), works from home on her son’s sick day, takes him to a museum, and shares domestic duties with her Black male partner, who is a nurse. She encounters many bumps in the road that will be familiar to working parents. Each day, she gently reassures her son with a lyrical refrain: “Always with you, / Always with me, / Mommy and child / Together we’ll be.” This tender story, narrated in the voice of a mother addressing her child, pulls at the heartstrings. Liem’s digital artwork uses a warm palette and has a calming quality. The characters’ body language and heartfelt facial expressions are spot-on. This book will resonate with any mom who knows the heartache of having to say goodbye to their child or who has faced the teary-eyed frustration of a youngster experiencing separation anxiety. Young readers, on the other hand, will find solace in the reassuring narrative. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
An honest look at motherhood in the contemporary era and a sweet tribute to the bond between mother and child. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: April 26, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-46551-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022
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