A well-crafted, important social tale with real-world relevance.
A strange creature strips citizens of their privacy in this picture book.
The Eyemonger, a creature with “one-hundred-three eyes,” comes to town, vowing to keep citizens safe. They readily accept the Eyemonger’s watchful eyes and “elect him to lead” but soon become uncomfortable by their decreasing privacy as the creature constantly watches them from a tower. He even sends winged eyeballs to peer into homes and buildings. Although the citizens voice their distress, the Eyemonger refuses to stop. When a light-skinned citizen named Griffin boards up his windows, the Eyemonger is infuriated. He believes Griffin is hiding something and returns with an army of rhinos to knock down his home. When the Eyemonger notices that Griffin’s paintings were ruined in the raid, he realizes he made a mistake. He apologizes to Griffin and says from now on, he will “look only when you want me to see.” Solove expertly underscores the importance of personal privacy in a way that young readers will understand. Offering reminders like “Privacy is essential. We all need some time when nobody sees,” the tale serves as a metaphor for a significant social issue. Beckwith’s appealing illustrations skillfully mirror the story’s mood. For example, as citizens grow weary of the Eyemonger’s violations, the images feature gloomier tones. The excellent backdrops include brick buildings, bustling streets, and multicolored skies. Up-close depictions of fantasy elements, like the Eyemonger’s appearance as a purple, mustachioed, waistcoat-wearing creature, are particularly clever.
A well-crafted, important social tale with real-world relevance.Pub Date: Nov. 21, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-578-80268-8
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Griffin Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.
The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
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