Better choices are Steven Kroll’s Stuff!, illustrated by Steve Cox (2009), and Margot Zemach's gold-standard, Caldecott...
A modern variant on a classic Eastern European folktale.
Waldman, this time with co-author Feutl, offers another adaptation (Clever Rachel, 2009, and A Sack Full of Feathers, 2007) but with lackluster results. The familiar tale’s modern twist focuses on Daisy’s clutter. She wants a bigger room for all of her stuff, especially with her birthday coming. She is sure she is “going to get lots of presents, and there’s nowhere to put anything.” Daisy initially comes off a bit cranky, but Mom has an idea. Her solution is to give Daisy a special box: “This…will make your room bigger.” The box is full of old toys that were stored in the basement. Daisy is skeptical; her room seems to be shrinking instead of growing. But Mom keeps bringing more of Daisy’s possessions into the room. As the space gets increasingly crowded and Daisy suffers minor injuries from tripping over her multitude of things, she finally decides to pack up the things she does not play with anymore and put it into the donation box for Mitzvah Day. The story does provide plenty of topics for discussion, including how to donate and recycle unwanted items, learning to appreciate what you have and more is not always better. Sadly the lengthy text hampers the book’s flow, and the bright acrylic illustrations add little to entertain young readers.
Better choices are Steven Kroll’s Stuff!, illustrated by Steve Cox (2009), and Margot Zemach's gold-standard, Caldecott Honor–winning It Could Always Be Worse: A Yiddish Folktale (1977). (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-55469-255-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
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
Pedestrian.
Mr. Brown can’t help with farm chores because his shoes are missing—a common occurrence in his household and likely in many readers’ as well.
Children will be delighted that the titular Mr. Brown is in fact a child. After Mr. Brown looks in his closet and sorts through his other family members’ shoes with no luck, his father and his siblings help him search the farm. Eventually—after colorful pages that enable readers to spot footwear hiding—the family gives up on their hunt, and Mr. Brown asks to be carried around for the chores. He rides on his father’s shoulders as Papa gets his work done, as seen on a double-page spread of vignettes. The resolution is more of a lesson for the adult readers than for children, a saccharine moment where father and son express their joy that the missing shoes gave them the opportunity for togetherness—with advice for other parents to appreciate those fleeting moments themselves. Though the art is bright and cheerful, taking advantage of the setting, it occasionally is misaligned with the text (for example, the text states that Mr. Brown is wearing his favorite green shirt while the illustration is of a shirt with wide stripes of white and teal blue, which could confuse readers at the point where they’re trying to figure out which family member is Mr. Brown). The family is light-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Pedestrian. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 14, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-5460-0389-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: WorthyKids/Ideals
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022
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