A visual treat and a lively, child-respecting story of inclusion.
Thinking differently leads a little girl to discover her secret superpower.
Lex is excited about her class trip to the science museum, but she’s anxious, too. Her brain works differently than other kids’, and she worries that she won’t be able to keep up if the visit requires a lot of reading. (In this standout picture book, children learn that Lex has dyslexia, which means she has difficulty recognizing words and letters.) At a display of famous mathematicians, scientists, and more, Lex struggles to read about Katherine Johnson, the groundbreaking Black NASA mathematician, while her classmates have already moved on. Her spirits rise when she is told how many brilliant, accomplished people were also dyslexic. And, when the class is stumped by a three-dimensional geometric puzzle, Lex realizes that “different” can be “super.” She uses her ability to process information as visual images to provide the answer. Expertly designed as a graphic novel for young children, the book features Perciante’s beautiful depictions of Lex’s world (Lex and her family are Black; her classmates and other adults appear ethnically, racially, and physically diverse). Rich with saturated color, the illustrations, some full page, incorporate strips of text and dialogue balloons. Following Rae’s First Day, a Kirkus Reviews best book of 2021, this is the second book in Jordan’s resonant Capables series, which is structured around the theme of inclusion and features children with disabilities discovering their “super-capabilities.”
A visual treat and a lively, child-respecting story of inclusion.Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-73645-805-1
Page Count: 44
Publisher: The Capables, LLC
Review Posted Online: Oct. 17, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Thought-provoking and charming.
A sophisticated robot—with the capacity to use senses of sight, hearing, and smell—is washed to shore on an island, the only robot survivor of a cargo of 500.
When otters play with her protective packaging, the robot is accidently activated. Roz, though without emotions, is intelligent and versatile. She can observe and learn in service of both her survival and her principle function: to help. Brown links these basic functions to the kind of evolution Roz undergoes as she figures out how to stay dry and intact in her wild environment—not easy, with pine cones and poop dropping from above, stormy weather, and a family of cranky bears. She learns to understand and eventually speak the language of the wild creatures (each species with its different “accent”). An accident leaves her the sole protector of a baby goose, and Roz must ask other creatures for help to shelter and feed the gosling. Roz’s growing connection with her environment is sweetly funny, reminiscent of Randall Jarrell’s The Animal Family. At every moment Roz’s actions seem plausible and logical yet surprisingly full of something like feeling. Robot hunters with guns figure into the climax of the story as the outside world intrudes. While the end to Roz’s benign and wild life is startling and violent, Brown leaves Roz and her companions—and readers—with hope.
Thought-provoking and charming. (Science fiction/fantasy. 7-11)Pub Date: April 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-316-38199-4
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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