With its bright, full-page trompe-l’oeil paintings, one cannot fault this rhymed abecedarium for earnestness. Each letter of the alphabet has its list in couplets, and each letter names places, persons, and things American—N is for Norman Rockwell, Native American, NASA—and the accompanying painting illustrates them all in an inventive if rather surreal diorama. A sidebar to each rhyme gives a bit more historical background. While it is not precisely disinformation, some of the facts offered are pretty offhand. For example, the name California comes from the Amazon Queen Califia, who presided over an island of gold; so to say, as the author does, that the name comes from a Spanish story about an island of gold is a little misleading. What is perhaps more troubling is the amount of product placement: Hershey bars, Oreos, Tootsie Rolls, Monopoly, and Holiday Inns are among the items listed, and lovingly delineated, under their proper letters. The images cheerfully combine what’s named without regard for historical time frame, but it is a bit unsettling to see, on the page for P, civil rights hero Rosa Parks with a box of popcorn in her lap, looking out a bus window where both Pike’s Peak and Plymouth rock can be seen. One might have more fun with Barbara Younger’s Purple Mountain Majesties (1998) for Fourth of July storytime. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2001
ISBN: 1-58536-015-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2001
Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on...
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
A girl with a passion for pink discovers that the monochromatic life may not be a bed of roses after all. Much like Roald Dahl’s Violet, this little girl doesn’t know when to say enough, as she over-indulges in the pinker-than-pink cupcakes she and her mother have made. Even when she awakens to discover she is a vivid pink hue, the girl is delighted. However, when her continual consumption of the pastry results in her color deepening to a red, she knows she must listen to her doctor and consume the antidote of—what else—green foods. Kann’s snappy prose is filled with subtle puns and jokes—the girls calls herself “pinkerella” and “pinkerbelle”—to keep astute readers chuckling. The tale is over the top enough to engage older readers while the younger set will be fascinated by the thought of becoming their favorite color. Kann’s computer-enhanced, full-color illustrations are a continuation of the zaniness. Bold colors and collage-style accents create a surreal landscape in which a child turning pink seems to be almost normal. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: June 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-06-077639-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2006
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