A somewhat weaker series entry, but one that may still be useful for school libraries.
A girl suffers from a lack of self-confidence in this second installment of Harmony’s (Kanga, My Dragon of Anger, 2015, etc.) series of rhyming books about children’s common problems.
Sal can’t speak to her peers because of her fear they’ll make fun of her. Whenever she feels this way, her imaginary pet cat, Matt, literally gets her tongue: she feels as if Matt’s paws are holding it still, and her knees feel “wobbly and weak.” She knows that Matt makes her feel bad about herself, but she can’t seem to make him go away. Matt appears in each illustration for readers to find; sometimes he’s interacting with Sal, but other times, he’s lurking elsewhere. It’s a good analogy for people with anxiety who, even when they are feeling good, wonder when uncertainty is going to strike. Sal’s mother tries to encourage her and eventually arranges a play date with another girl with a similar temperament. Sal is surprised to find out that May also has an imaginary pet cat. After the girls realize that they both have animals that undermine their self-esteem, they begin to come out of their shells: “May says she is glad she had come to play / Even though she was nervous about this day, / She thought I wouldn’t like her. / I laugh and say ‘It looks like we both were.’ ” As with the previous series installment, this book has moments of true understanding and empathy (“My heart is racing, my palms are sweating. / It is what Matt tells me that causes the fretting”). But also like Kanga, the rhyme scheme throughout this book forces phrases into awkward structures to make end words rhyme. The illustrations, which are sometimes disproportionate, have plenty of color and child-friendly appeal, particularly when Sal and May play dress-up and have a dance party. Notes at the end of the book offer parents some ideas on how to encourage children toward better self-esteem, but they don’t fully explain the causes of performance anxiety or when one should seek professional intervention. However, the book’s fun activities, such as a maze and a word search, should engage young independent readers.
A somewhat weaker series entry, but one that may still be useful for school libraries.Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-925420-03-6
Page Count: 30
Publisher: Prosperous Alliance Enterprise Pty Ltd
Review Posted Online: Dec. 1, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.
In Florence’s middle-grade fantasy novel, a young girl’s heart is tested in the face of an evil, spreading Darkness.
Eleven-year-old Lydia, “freckle-cheeked and round-eyed, with hair the color of pine bark and fair skin,” is struggling with the knowledge that she has reached the age to apprentice as an herbalist. Lydia is reluctant to leave her beloved, magical Mulberry Glen and her cozy Housetree in the woods—she’ll miss Garder, the Glen’s respected philosopher; her fairy guardian Pit; her human friend Livy; and even the mischievous part-elf, part-imp, part-human twins Zale and Zamilla. But the twins go missing after hearing of a soul-sapping Darkness that has swallowed a forest and is creeping into minds and engulfing entire towns. They have secretly left to find a rare fruit that, it is said, will stop the Darkness if thrown into the heart of the mountain that rises out of the lethal forest. Lydia follows, determined to find the twins before they, too, fall victim to the Darkness. During her journey, accompanied by new friends, she gradually realizes that she herself has a dangerous role to play in the quest to stop the Darkness. In this well-crafted fantasy, Florence skillfully equates the physical manifestation of Darkness with the feelings of insecurity and powerlessness that Lydia first struggles with when thinking of leaving the Glen. Such negative thoughts grow more intrusive the closer she and her friends come to the Darkness—and to Lydia’s ultimate, powerfully rendered test of character, which leads to a satisfyingly realistic, not quite happily-ever-after ending. Highlights include a delightfully haunting, reality-shifting library and a deft sprinkling of Latin throughout the text; Pit’s pet name for Lydia is mea flosculus (“my little flower”). Fine-lined ink drawings introducing each chapter add a pleasing visual element to this well-grounded fairy tale.
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781956393095
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Waxwing Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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