While Abigail’s internal process feels believable, there is no condemnation of the bullying, and the resolution with the...
A fat girl named Abigail copes with a negative body image.
Unfortunately, this book’s good intentions miss the mark. The very title, juxtaposed with jacket art depicting a heavyset white girl clad in a bathing suit and goggles, risks reinforcing the fat-shaming it attempts to undo. As the book opens, Abigail walks, head down, toward a group of jeering, thin, white children. “Abigail always tried to be last in line, because she knew that when she dived in, she would make an enormous wave, and everyone would shout, 'ABIGAIL IS A WHALE!’ ”—and that’s exactly what happens. Also poolside is the swimming teacher, a white man, who is fat, too. Although he does nothing to stop or correct the children’s bullying of Abigail, he talks with her afterward, praising her swimming and telling her, “if you want to feel light, think light.” She decides to practice this mind-over-matter advice in other ways (thinking “giant” to feel big and powerful on her walk home and “hedgehog” to cozily burrow into bed for a good night’s sleep), building up to her next dive into the pool. Then she thinks “rocket and enter[s] the water without a splash.” This success suddenly makes the others cheer her on, and she even reclaims the term “whale” in order to summon the bravery to jump from the highest diving board.
While Abigail’s internal process feels believable, there is no condemnation of the bullying, and the resolution with the other children feels forced. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-77147-198-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Owlkids Books
Review Posted Online: June 27, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Self-worth is always worth bolstering, but the positive message here is clouded by muddled subtexts and visual cues.
Dark-skinned children are more likely to be confused than comforted by this unvarnished esteem-builder.
Looking sheepish and unhappy in the pictures but sounding angry, a young boy cites teasing comments from lighter-skinned peers about his skin color, hair and other features. “I squirmed and wiggled / as they giggled at my teeth so white. / ‘You can be our flashlight at night. / Just smile and we’ll be alright.’ ” The emotional skies clear, though, after his mother supplies both a pep talk (“Look in the mirror and / love what you see!”) and a plate of chocolate cupcakes to share with his erstwhile tormentors. Evans, too, sends a mixed message in the ways he portrays the figures he poses against sketchy urban backdrops. Opposite the line about the narrator’s “flashlight,” the boy’s teeth are both hardly visible (in contrast to the whites of his big, bright eyes) and colored a lower-contrast ivory to boot, and in several scenes his mouth is so inconspicuous and oddly placed that his nose might be mistaken for smiling lips. More troubling, to judge from their postures and expressions, the other children’s mockery may come across to readers as just friendly banter—particularly in light of a final scene that is all frosting-smeared happy faces and mutual amity—instead of the hurtful words the narrator perceives.
Self-worth is always worth bolstering, but the positive message here is clouded by muddled subtexts and visual cues. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-312-60326-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
A second scintillating celebration of personal style and dad-daughter DIY.
Reality puts only a temporary damper on big, glittery plans for a sleepover castle.
New school friend Tam, who shared bánh mi at lunch in The One and Only Sparkella (2021), is arriving in two hours, and before that Sparkella needs to make a castle “fit for two royal highnesses.” Unfortunately, even with Dad’s help, the flimsy cardboard construction collapses as soon as Sparkella climbs inside to test it. What to do? After giving the pouting princess some personal time in the garage, Dad points the way: “I think you have to take what you have and make it SPARKLE like only you can.” And, indeed, by the time brown-skinned “Tam, Queen of Kittens” is dropped off by her grandma, a pair of folding tables have been transformed with paint, wrapping paper, and colorful fabrics into the sparkliest castle ever! Laying on saturated colors and sprays of tiny stars with a lavish hand, Barnes depicts the two young “royals” in flamboyantly decorated settings—even Dad’s motorcycle is a dazzling confection awash in bows, and Dad himself, light-skinned like Sparkella, isn’t the least decorative element considering his fondness for sporting a purple boa and outrageous eyewear when occasion demands. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A second scintillating celebration of personal style and dad-daughter DIY. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: May 31, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-75076-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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