A lonely boy discovers a world of friendship on his apartment building’s roof. Jawanza is not allowed to play outside, so he spends his time looking out his window at the pigeons flying. He expresses his frustration by yelling at them, but an “old man with stick fingers” puts him in his place from the rooftop: “Can y’all believe that Mr. Joe-wanza, talking loud at you people because you’re flying? What are y’all supposed to be doing—swimming?” Jawanza investigates the rooftop to find that Mr. Roderick Jackson Montgomery the Three and his pigeons have a whole world unto themselves under the sky—a world and language that “Mr. Three” teaches Jawanza to appreciate. Myers (Wings, 2000, etc.) once again explores the ideas of friendship and flight as liberating metaphor. The watercolor illustrations employ a warm palette of yellows and oranges, with bright blue skies; the figures of Jawanza and Mr. Roderick Jackson Montgomery the Three are elongated and bend into elegant curves that mimic the swoops of the pigeons’ flight. Jawanza’s sadness at the beginning is palpable, as is his emerging joy as he learns the “pigeon dance.” The old man’s distinctive voice is pure delight: “The problem with you now, Mr. Joe-wanza, is that you’re too hurry-hurry to make the friends you’re going to have. You got to take time with these new friends.” The text as a whole, however, is overlong for a story with as little real action as this one; it bogs down from time to time in the details, and perhaps Mr. Roderick Jackson Montgomery the Three’s delightful voice runs a little out of control. It is, nevertheless, a beautiful exploration of urban friendship in unexpected places. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-7868-0652-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2001
Categories: CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY
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Reinvention is the name of the game for two blobs of clay.
A blue-eyed gray blob and a brown-eyed brown blob sit side by side, unsure as to what’s going to happen next. The gray anticipates an adventure, while the brown appears apprehensive. A pair of hands descends, and soon, amid a flurry of squishing and prodding and poking and sculpting, a handsome gray wolf and a stately brown owl emerge. The hands disappear, leaving the friends to their own devices. The owl is pleased, but the wolf convinces it that the best is yet to come. An ear pulled here and an extra eye placed there, and before you can shake a carving stick, a spurt of frenetic self-exploration—expressed as a tangled black scribble—reveals a succession of smug hybrid beasts. After all, the opportunity to become a “pig-e-phant” doesn’t come around every day. But the sound of approaching footsteps panics the pair of Picassos. How are they going to “fix [them]selves” on time? Soon a hippopotamus and peacock are staring bug-eyed at a returning pair of astonished hands. The creative naiveté of the “clay mates” is perfectly captured by Petty’s feisty, spot-on dialogue: “This was your idea…and it was a BAD one.” Eldridge’s endearing sculpted images are photographed against the stark white background of an artist’s work table to great effect.
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted fun of their own . (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-30311-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
Categories: CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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Ice princess Lina must navigate family and school in this early chapter read.
The family picnic is today. This is not a typical gathering, since Lina’s maternal relatives are a royal family of Windtamers who have power over the weather and live in castles floating on clouds. Lina herself is mixed race, with black hair and a tan complexion like her Asian-presenting mother’s; her Groundling father appears to be a white human. While making a grand entrance at the castle of her grandfather, the North Wind, she fails to successfully ride a gust of wind and crashes in front of her entire family. This prompts her stern grandfather to ask that Lina move in with him so he can teach her to control her powers. Desperate to avoid this, Lina and her friend Claudia, who is black, get Lina accepted at the Hilltop Science and Arts Academy. Lina’s parents allow her to go as long as she does lessons with grandpa on Saturdays. However, fitting in at a Groundling school is rough, especially when your powers start freak winter storms! With the story unfurling in diary format, bright-pink–highlighted grayscale illustrations help move the plot along. There are slight gaps in the storytelling and the pacing is occasionally uneven, but Lina is full of spunk and promotes self-acceptance.
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre. (Fantasy. 5-8)Pub Date: June 25, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-35393-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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