Ruiz’s muted multimedia prints are charming; the story is not. (Picture book. 4-7)
Grandma and Niña dance, sing, laugh, and eat pan dulce in the park together. But one day the child forgets about her grandmother as school and friends take precedence.
At the same time, the Mexican economy worsens, and suddenly the money Abuela has been saving for her granddaughter’s special gift is worthless. Niña visits after a long absence only to find Abuela not home. Seeing the stack of dirty dishes, the layer of dust, and overflowing trash bin, the young girl cleans the house. Spotting a spiderweb-draped clay pot on the fridge, she opens it to discover useless old pesos. When Abuela returns, she and Niña embrace, make papel picado out of the old bills, and eat pan dulce in the park. Ruiz’s simplistic story makes almost no sense from the beginning. No parents are ever in evidence, so many readers will assume that Abuela is Niña’s sole guardian. Then, suddenly, the girl lives somewhere else and no longer comes around—even though she lives close enough to visit on her own. Abuela puts away a paltry 20 pesos each week, but the jar is miraculously filled with large bills (these are collaged into the illustration). When Abuela no longer has extra money to set aside, she forgets about the jar and fails to exchange the contents for the new official currency. The disarray in which Abuela leaves her house will strike many as hard to believe.
Ruiz’s muted multimedia prints are charming; the story is not. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 7, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-7636-9267-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: June 18, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.
The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Nice enough but not worth repeat reads.
Emma deals with jitters before playing the guitar in the school talent show.
Pop musician Kevin Jonas and his wife, Danielle, put performance at the center of their picture-book debut. When Emma is intimidated by her very talented friends, the encouragement of her younger sister, Bella, and the support of her family help her to shine her own light. The story is straightforward and the moral familiar: Draw strength from your family and within to overcome your fears. Employing the performance-anxiety trope that’s been written many times over, the book plods along predictably—there’s nothing really new or surprising here. Dawson’s full-color digital illustrations center a White-presenting family along with Emma’s three friends of color: Jamila has tanned skin and wears a hijab; Wendy has dark brown skin and Afro puffs; and Luis has medium brown skin. Emma’s expressive eyes and face are the real draw of the artwork—from worry to embarrassment to joy, it’s clear what she’s feeling. A standout double-page spread depicts Emma’s talent show performance, with a rainbow swirl of music erupting from an amp and Emma rocking a glam outfit and electric guitar. Overall, the book reads pretty plainly, buoyed largely by the artwork. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Nice enough but not worth repeat reads. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: March 29, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-35207-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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