A useful and compassionate tale about inclusivity for kids and parents.
A family learns about accepting and accommodating differences in this fourth installment of a picture-book series.
Princess Penelope gets along well with her brothers, Stewie and Zoom, which is easy because they enjoy doing the same things. But we’re not all alike, as Penelope’s teacher explains: “Everyone’s mind is something to appreciate, and it is important to have some fun with other kids who may seem to like very different things than you do.” Penelope has her doubts, but when her mother invites a classmate on the autism spectrum for a play date, she and her brothers are game. Welcoming someone with Eric’s sensitivities doesn’t come naturally for the boisterous siblings, but the get-together goes well, even when their classmate becomes overwhelmed at one point. The book includes play-date tips for neurotypical families and for parents of special needs kids. The team of Bronstein and Young (Stewie BOOM! and Princess Penelope: The Case of the Eweey, Gooey, Gross and Very Stinky Experiment, 2016, etc.) is realistic about such matters as the need to practice skills like using quiet voices or being flexible: “Stewie and I practiced not pitching a fit. It took some practicing,” says Penelope dryly. The children’s quick acceptance of behaviors like Eric’s arm flapping may be overly rosy, but the book does help prepare neurotypical kids for what to expect—including having fun. Young’s delightfully comic, affectionate illustrations with a diverse cast support and enrich the story.
A useful and compassionate tale about inclusivity for kids and parents.Pub Date: April 3, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-9972962-8-0
Page Count: 58
Publisher: Nothing But The Truth Publishing
Review Posted Online: Feb. 19, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books.
Curious about the Big Wide World outside his Sasquatch community, Hugo makes a friend who is of it.
Sasquatch Hugo’s bedroom is inside a cave and possesses the charming feature of a small stream running through it that he can sail his little toy boat on. It’s cool, but he yearns to see the Big Wide World. When he asks his smart friend Gigi if a Sasquatch might become a sailor, she says it’s possible but would be difficult—the primary rule of their people is to not be seen by Humans. Then, in everyone’s favorite Hide and Go Sneak class, which is held outside, a Human appears; Hugo laughs at the sight, drawing Human attention in a taboo-breaking mistake. Shortly after, Hugo’s toy boat floats into the cave with a Human toy—soon, it’s facilitating a pen-pal–type relationship that’s derailed when Hugo confesses to being a Sasquatch and Human Boone, a budding cryptozoologist, doesn’t believe him. How Hugo and Boone resolve this misapprehension and become friends in a joint search for the Ogopogo concludes this series opener. Potter keeps the third-person narrative tightly focused on Hugo’s perspective, and the details she uses to flesh out the Sasquatch world are delightfully playful. Sala’s drawings depict a homey Sasquatch cavern community, Boone as a freckled, white boy, and Hugo as a hairily benevolent behemoth.
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books. (final art unseen) (Fantasy. 5-9)Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2859-4
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
Wonderful, indeed
A love song to baby with delightful illustrations to boot.
Sweet but not saccharine and singsong but not forced, Martin’s text is one that will invite rereadings as it affirms parental wishes for children while admirably keeping child readers at its heart. The lines that read “This is the first time / There’s ever been you, / So I wonder what wonderful things / You will do” capture the essence of the picture book and are accompanied by a diverse group of babies and toddlers clad in downright adorable outfits. Other spreads include older kids, too, and pictures expand on the open text to visually interpret the myriad possibilities and hopes for the depicted children. For example, a spread reading “Will you learn how to fly / To find the best view?” shows a bespectacled, school-aged girl on a swing soaring through an empty white background. This is just one spread in which Martin’s fearless embrace of the white of the page serves her well. Throughout the book, she maintains a keen balance of layout choices, and surprising details—zebras on the wallpaper behind a father cradling his child, a rock-’n’-roll band of mice paralleling the children’s own band called “The Missing Teeth”—add visual interest and gentle humor. An ideal title for the baby-shower gift bag and for any nursery bookshelf or lap-sit storytime.
Wonderful, indeed . (Picture book. 1-4)Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-37671-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: June 5, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2015
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