Emily Pearl, that not-so-helpful but very independent girl, is back in her second outing, this time “helping” at school.
Emily Pearl goes to school and can do lots of things—count to 14, write her name and hit a home run. But as in I Can Do It Myself! (2009), while the gentle rhyming verse brags about all of her accomplishments, Hayashi’s watercolor, pen and colored-pencil illustrations reveal that her efforts are not always successful or welcome. Yes, she can do the monkey bars two at a time, but it involves pushing other kids off. Yes, she can neatly stack the blocks…after she causes her classmates’ creation to tumble. Indeed, she is often the cause of the mishaps and chaos that she is so anxious to help with. While Emily Pearl’s previous outing was charming in its simplicity and its snapshot of a too-true phase in every child’s life, this one is not as successful. Emily Pearl is obviously older and so should be a little more clued-in about the effect her actions have on other people; readers scanning her classmates’ faces will know immediately that Emily is not always appreciated by kids or adults, but those who don’t pay attention to facial expressions and the small details may not get the point of the book at all.
This misses the riotous humor and innocent naughtiness that make Olivia and Eloise such delicious fun. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-56145-630-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: July 25, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2012
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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This tan-skinned, freckle-faced narrator extols her own virtues while describing the challenges of being of mixed race.
Protagonist Lilly appears on the cover, and her voluminous curly, twirly hair fills the image. Throughout the rhyming narrative, accompanied by cartoonish digital illustrations, Lilly brags on her dark skin (that isn’t very), “frizzy, wild” hair, eyebrows, intellect, and more. Her five friends present black, Asian, white (one blonde, one redheaded), and brown (this last uses a wheelchair). This array smacks of tokenism, since the protagonist focuses only on self-promotion, leaving no room for the friends’ character development. Lilly describes how hurtful racial microaggressions can be by recalling questions others ask her like “What are you?” She remains resilient and says that even though her skin and hair make her different, “the way that I look / Is not all I’m about.” But she spends so much time talking about her appearance that this may be hard for readers to believe. The rhyming verse that conveys her self-celebration is often clumsy and forced, resulting in a poorly written, plotless story for which the internal illustrations fall far short of the quality of the cover image.
Mixed-race children certainly deserve mirror books, but they also deserve excellent text and illustrations. This one misses the mark on both counts. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 14, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-63233-170-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Eifrig
Review Posted Online: June 11, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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BOOK REVIEW
Loewen’s story is a simple snapshot of kindergarten graduation day, and it stays true to form, with Yoshikawa’s artwork resembling photos that might be placed in an album—and the illustrations cheer, a mixed media of saturated color, remarkable depth and joyful expression. The author comfortably captures the hesitations of making the jump from kindergarten to first grade without making a fuss about it, and she makes the prospect something worth the effort. Trepidation aside, this is a reminder of how much fun kindergarten was: your own cubbyhole, the Halloween parade, losing a tooth, “the last time we’ll ever sit criss-cross applesauce together.” But there is also the fledgling’s pleasure at shucking off the past—swabbing the desks, tossing out the stubbiest crayons, taking the pictures off the wall—and surging into the future. Then there is graduation itself: donning the mortarboards, trooping into the auditorium—“Mr. Meyer starts playing a serious song on the piano. It makes me want to cry. It makes me want to march”—which will likely have a few adult readers feeling the same. (Picture book. 4-5)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7614-5807-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
Review Posted Online: Jan. 8, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2011
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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