SOMETIMES I FEEL LIKE A FOX

Name: SOMETIMES I FEEL LIKE A FOX
Author: Danielle Daniel
ISBN: 978-1-55498-750-4

by Danielle Daniel ; illustrated by Danielle Daniel ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 11, 2015

This book will fascinate children expanding their horizons and learning about other cultures (or, in the case of Anishinaabe...

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An introduction to the Anishinaabe tradition of totem animals.

In the tradition of the Anishinaabe people of Canada, everyone belongs to an animal clan or totem. This totem animal symbolizes the skills that each member of the clan must learn to serve their tribe. In two-page spreads, Métis artist Daniel introduces children to 12 totem animals, such as a moose, a rabbit, a raven, and a crow. One page shows a child wearing a mask representing a totem animal, while on the opposing page, a brief first-person narration explains that totem’s attributes. The playful acrylic-on-canvas illustrations have an earthy, textural feel where the surface shows through the paint. The text is child-friendly, imaginative, and short—really four lines of free verse rather than prose text. At the end of the book, Daniel has included a list of the animals and their meanings, which is helpful, as the meanings of the animals are not always obvious in each little poem. For example, the butterfly, which stands for vulnerability, is described thus: “Sometimes I feel like a butterfly, / delicate and free. / I spread my wings open / and flutter from flower to leaf.”

This book will fascinate children expanding their horizons and learning about other cultures (or, in the case of Anishinaabe kids, their own). (author’s note) (Picture book. 5-8)

Pub Date: Aug. 11, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-55498-750-4

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Groundwood

Review Posted Online: June 15, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2015

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
SOMETIMES I FEEL LIKE AN OAK
by Danielle Daniel ; illustrated by Jackie Traverse

- BOOK REVIEW
YOU HOLD ME UP
by Monique Gray Smith ; illustrated by Danielle Daniel

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ONCE IN A BLUE MOON
by Danielle Daniel ; illustrated by Danielle Daniel

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A BIKE LIKE SERGIO'S

by Maribeth Boelts ; illustrated by Noah Z. Jones ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 4, 2016

Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on...

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Continuing from their acclaimed Those Shoes (2007), Boelts and Jones entwine conversations on money, motives, and morality.

This second collaboration between author and illustrator is set within an urban multicultural streetscape, where brown-skinned protagonist Ruben wishes for a bike like his friend Sergio’s. He wishes, but Ruben knows too well the pressure his family feels to prioritize the essentials. While Sergio buys a pack of football cards from Sonny’s Grocery, Ruben must buy the bread his mom wants. A familiar lady drops what Ruben believes to be a $1 bill, but picking it up, to his shock, he discovers $100! Is this Ruben’s chance to get himself the bike of his dreams? In a fateful twist, Ruben loses track of the C-note and is sent into a panic. After finally finding it nestled deep in a backpack pocket, he comes to a sense of moral clarity: “I remember how it was for me when that money that was hers—then mine—was gone.” When he returns the bill to her, the lady offers Ruben her blessing, leaving him with double-dipped emotions, “happy and mixed up, full and empty.” Readers will be pleased that there’s no reward for Ruben’s choice of integrity beyond the priceless love and warmth of a family’s care and pride.

Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on children. (Picture book. 5-8)

Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-7636-6649-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Candlewick

Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
THE PURPLE PUFFY COAT
by Maribeth Boelts ; illustrated by Daniel Duncan

- BOOK REVIEW
KAIA AND THE BEES
by Maribeth Boelts ; illustrated by Angela Dominguez

- BOOK REVIEW
HAPPY LIKE SOCCER
by Maribeth Boelts & illustrated by Lauren Castillo

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IMANI'S MOON

by JaNay Brown-Wood ; illustrated by Hazel Mitchell ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 14, 2014

While the blend of folklore, fantasy and realism is certainly far-fetched, Imani, with her winning personality, is a child...

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Imani endures the insults heaped upon her by the other village children, but she never gives up her dreams.

The Masai girl is tiny compared to the other children, but she is full of imagination and perseverance. Luckily, she has a mother who believes in her and tells her stories that will fuel that imagination. Mama tells her about the moon goddess, Olapa, who wins over the sun god. She tells Imani about Anansi, the trickster spider who vanquishes a larger snake. (Troublingly, the fact that Anansi is a West African figure, not of the Masai, goes unaddressed in both text and author’s note.) Inspired, the tiny girl tries to find new ways to achieve her dream: to touch the moon. One day, after crashing to the ground yet again when her leafy wings fail, she is ready to forget her hopes. That night, she witnesses the adumu, the special warriors’ jumping dance. Imani wakes the next morning, determined to jump to the moon. After jumping all day, she reaches the moon, meets Olapa and receives a special present from the goddess, a small moon rock. Now she becomes the storyteller when she relates her adventure to Mama. The watercolor-and-graphite illustrations have been enhanced digitally, and the night scenes of storytelling and fantasy with their glowing stars and moons have a more powerful impact than the daytime scenes, with their blander colors.

While the blend of folklore, fantasy and realism is certainly far-fetched, Imani, with her winning personality, is a child to be admired. (Picture book. 5-8)