Beautifully tender, moving, and even hopeful.
A child hears the far-off song of a right whale.
It seems to be a dream at first, because no one else can hear it. It is a haunting sound that grows a bit closer each day, sometimes joyful but more often mournful and sad. The sounds become a saga of the whale’s darkest experiences, or possibly a history of the entire species. After several mornings, the child goes to the beach in the early light and hears the whale plead to know why she was hunted and is now unable to come home. With an aching heart and feeling the creature’s pain, this young human can only whisper a soft apology for the deeds of others. The whale heads out to deeper waters, but as more people gather, listening and waiting, she returns with a baby, and this time her call is filled with hope. The child, who presents White, narrates in a tender and gentle tone, addressing readers as companions. The whale’s tales are depicted as small, gray drawings of whales, whaling ships, hunters, harpoons, and death, all placed within the more colorful, large-scale illustrations of the whale at sea or child at home or at the shore. Although the whale’s species is not named in the text, a double-page spread at the conclusion of the tale provides a great deal of information about right whales. (This is an Australian import, suggesting the whale is a southern right whale.)
Beautifully tender, moving, and even hopeful. (Picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: April 6, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-7331212-8-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Blue Dot Kids Press
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
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