A well-illustrated book for youngsters that will reinforce ecologically friendly household habits and hopefully inspire new...
The third installment in Bronstein’s (Stewie BOOM! Starts School, 2015, etc.) engaging children’s book series focuses on the precocious titular protagonist and his family “going green.”
Stewie and his sister, Princess Penelope, like to do experiments with food, household products, and whatever else they can get their hands on. When they mix up a “big batch of goop” that stinks really bad, they toss it out the window and forget about it. The next morning, though, they get in trouble when their parents find that the yard has turned brown and the dogs green. After Stewie tells his parents about the goop, which they made from things from the kitchen, such as fake-cheese chips, window cleaner, and dog shampoo, he and his sister learn how many products in their home contain potentially dangerous chemicals. Stewie comes up with a great idea: to “hunt down all the yucky things in the house” and replace them with ecologically friendly alternatives. Thus begins a revelatory experience as the kids examine the many products in their home. The narrative doesn’t offer up anything new or innovative in its ideas to help children go green; instead, it includes relatively simplistic notions, such as turning off lights when leaving a room, taking shorter showers, and composting. Still, the book will undoubtedly kick-start conversations with children about environmental stewardship and, at the very least, compel them to look at the world around them in a different light. It’s obviously lovingly produced, and its full-color illustrations are exceptional. Overall, this latest installment in Bronstein’s Stewie BOOM! saga proves to be an “eweey, gooey” beginner’s guide to going green.
A well-illustrated book for youngsters that will reinforce ecologically friendly household habits and hopefully inspire new ones.Pub Date: July 18, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-9963074-8-2
Page Count: 58
Publisher: Nothing But The Truth Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 26, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
A memorable story of kindness, courage and wonder.
After being home-schooled for years, Auggie Pullman is about to start fifth grade, but he’s worried: How will he fit into middle school life when he looks so different from everyone else?
Auggie has had 27 surgeries to correct facial anomalies he was born with, but he still has a face that has earned him such cruel nicknames as Freak, Freddy Krueger, Gross-out and Lizard face. Though “his features look like they’ve been melted, like the drippings on a candle” and he’s used to people averting their eyes when they see him, he’s an engaging boy who feels pretty ordinary inside. He’s smart, funny, kind and brave, but his father says that having Auggie attend Beecher Prep would be like sending “a lamb to the slaughter.” Palacio divides the novel into eight parts, interspersing Auggie’s first-person narrative with the voices of family members and classmates, wisely expanding the story beyond Auggie’s viewpoint and demonstrating that Auggie’s arrival at school doesn’t test only him, it affects everyone in the community. Auggie may be finding his place in the world, but that world must find a way to make room for him, too.
A memorable story of kindness, courage and wonder. (Fiction. 8-14)Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-375-86902-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Dec. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2011
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