A kids’ book with an unfocused message but good characterization.
A boy tries to build a robot and learns to believe in his creativity in Sitek’s picture book.
Cam is a sensitive, artistic boy with two foster siblings, Inaya and Loris. After he sees a news program with a report about child abuse, Cam is inspired to act. After talking about it with his family, he decides to build a robot to protect children. Cam enlists Inaya and Loris to help him, and the trio work incredibly hard but produce a mechanical man named Giorgio that doesn’t work. Angry, Cam tosses a piece of the robot away, which hits the boy in the head and knocks him out. While unconscious, he has a dream that makes him feel that creating art is a better way to help others; he focuses on creating a graphic novel starring Giorgio, which he shares with other kids. Soon, the children’s wishes magically bring the robot to life in the real world. The book’s representation of people in the foster-care system is refreshing, and the work, though short, takes time to develop the siblings’ personalities. However, the various plot points seem a bit scattered, and young readers may be confused about which elements are most important. Frank’s full-color illustrations are beautifully rendered, featuring diverse main and background characters.
A kids’ book with an unfocused message but good characterization.Pub Date: Sept. 24, 2024
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: July 24, 2024
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
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
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