A kids’ story with good intentions, despite some stumbles.
A girl with cancer gets a sparkly Christmas wig from a friend in this illustrated children’s book.
Ben usually plays outside, alone, as the other kids in his neighborhood are older. But one day, a moving truck arrives, bringing a small, three-person family: a father, a mother, and a girl who’s Ben’s age. She uses a wheelchair, and her name, Torey, is written in silver on the back. Ben’s parents invite the new neighbors to dinner, and he asks the girl why she’s in a chair. “The same reason I keep losing my hair,” she says; the illustration shows that she wears a scarf to cover her head. Torey adds that she’s been sick, but is getting better. Later, when Ben’s mother tucks him into bed, she explains that Torey has cancer, for which she’s had lengthy treatments. Ben kindly wants to help Torey and make her smile, and they become best friends. At Christmas, Ben decides to make Torey a gift, so that her head won’t be cold: a wig made out of silver tinsel that he took from his Christmas tree: “I wanted your head to be warm, and see yourself as pretty as you are to me,” he tells her. Over time, Torey regrows her long, brown hair and recovers, but she and Ben continue to send each other Christmas presents each year. Debut author Joise tells a straightforward story about how friendship may be translated into concrete action—a good lesson for kids. The tinsel wig creatively combines Christmas-y elements with a practical gift. Torey’s full recovery, though, could possibly raise unrealistic hopes for young readers who know someone with cancer. Marino’s (Zinyama Village Road, 2016, etc.) illustrations depict Torey as pink-cheeked and grinning throughout, even while she receives painful treatments; as a result, it’s unclear why Ben needs to “make Torey smile,” or why a girl with cancer isn’t ever shown to frown or cry. Readers may get the impression that Torey feels like she must reassure others, rather than express her own fear, sorrow, or anger.
A kids’ story with good intentions, despite some stumbles.Pub Date: Feb. 27, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4984-9802-9
Page Count: -
Publisher: Xulon Press
Review Posted Online: June 19, 2017
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
The seemingly ageless Seeger brings back his renowned giant for another go in a tuneful tale that, like the art, is a bit sketchy, but chockful of worthy messages. Faced with yearly floods and droughts since they’ve cut down all their trees, the townsfolk decide to build a dam—but the project is stymied by a boulder that is too huge to move. Call on Abiyoyo, suggests the granddaughter of the man with the magic wand, then just “Zoop Zoop” him away again. But the rock that Abiyoyo obligingly flings aside smashes the wand. How to avoid Abiyoyo’s destruction now? Sing the monster to sleep, then make it a peaceful, tree-planting member of the community, of course. Seeger sums it up in a postscript: “every community must learn to manage its giants.” Hays, who illustrated the original (1986), creates colorful, if unfinished-looking, scenes featuring a notably multicultural human cast and a towering Cubist fantasy of a giant. The song, based on a Xhosa lullaby, still has that hard-to-resist sing-along potential, and the themes of waging peace, collective action, and the benefits of sound ecological practices are presented in ways that children will both appreciate and enjoy. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-83271-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2001
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