Unhappy that January is so dark and boring, fourth-grader Sunny hopes to invent a new holiday—a Kids Day halfway between Christmas and Valentine’s Day—and to get the mayor to proclaim it. The main attraction in this optimistic tale is not the premise—which rather unbelievably seems about to happen by its end—but Sunny herself, a never-give-up kind of kid determined to “bloom like a dandelion,” in her father's words. But her father is serving time. Living in an apartment on the wrong side of a blighted river, and attending a school that is “on probation,” Sunny’s life could seem pretty grim. Still, she and her hardworking mother count ten reasons to be grateful every night, her teacher thinks positively, and though Riverton is not the best of all possible worlds, it seems likely that Sunny and her family will, step-by-step, achieve their dreams. A first-person narrative, full of high hopes and sensible advice, this feel-good story slips down easily. (Fiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-545-07579-4
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2008
Matching a text first published over 60 years ago (and adapted here) with vibrant new illustrations, this brief import from the Philippines offers a moving tale of one family’s memorial to their lost ones. Marcelina and her six brothers and sisters welcome their father home from a business trip. As promised, he brings gifts: hand-woven sleeping mats “for every one of the family.” After the living receive theirs, three mats remain, one for each of the siblings who died young. Alägrä’s art is done in a muralistic style, with simple, monumental forms, stylized facial features, and bright, boldly contrasting colors. The language is sometimes awkward—“Papa’s face was filled with a long-bewildered sorrow”—but the emotions are strong and real. The story’s brevity makes it a promising discussion-starter, and the idea that “They may be dead but they are never really gone” is presented without excess sentimentality. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-916291-86-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Kane Miller
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1999
Despite vibrant, detailed cityscapes, Russo (When Mama Gets Home, 1998, etc.) does such a good job portraying a young girl’s boredom when her mother makes too many stops for conversation as they walk together to the supermarket that the story itself is tedious. Every stop that her mother makes turns into a gabfest that tries Celeste’s patience. To bide the time, she counts cars, pieces of jewelry, and the seconds between light changes at the intersection, until she can stand no more and gives her mother’s sleeve a tug: “Come on, Mama.” The tables turn briefly when Celeste stops to pet a puppy, but it isn’t a balanced enough counterpoint to her mother’s dawdling to make any point. The flat artwork presents enjoyable urban scenes, but all the talk is smothering, in what amounts to a multicultural odyssey—first is Mrs. Green (African-American), then comes Mrs. Walker (Caucasian), then Mr. Chan (Chinese), then Mrs. Castro (possibly Latina). The book is a grand example of showing instead of telling, but the show, unfortunately, is dull. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-688-16411-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1999
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