A truly supportive message for families and young children living with veterans, full of cheerful pictures, comforting...
Retired educator Gibbons intertwines definitions and familiar examples to help children understand veteran life.
The debut author, who comes from a military family, expands on the concept of a veteran for young readers: “Veterans are also called warriors or heroes. Your neighbor could be a warrior….Any grownup you see could be a veteran.” She goes on to present the various stages of military life, fully addresses the challenges of separation and travel, and offers homespun advice that may help mature concepts go down easy. Her words have the authenticity of experience and the strength of commitment when she writes, “Honor means working hard and doing things the right way….It makes you feel really, really good inside to do things right!” The author acknowledges readers who may see war differently by saying that “Not all people feel grateful for those who go away to war.” Peace protestors also get a nod, but the author notes that “Veterans want peace too. They fight for our freedom, even for the freedom of those people who say they do not like war.” Her unwavering support and sensitivity to veterans of all eras will bring comfort to its intended audience and Ottenbreit’s colorful, cartoonish illustrations are a good match for the text, showing a variety of handicaps and adaptive gear used by injured veterans. A first-person, child-centric voice makes the message personal but accessible without being preachy. However, there are no rose-colored glasses here; the book offers descriptions of scars, post-traumatic stress disorder, and child-appropriate ways to engage veterans. It also delivers a critical message for children when veteran loved ones act “scared or jumpy”: “none of it is because of you.”
A truly supportive message for families and young children living with veterans, full of cheerful pictures, comforting messages, and patriotism.Pub Date: June 30, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-9963198-0-5
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Village Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 2, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
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