An instructive story about balancing big dreams with real life, with a charming heroine to root for.
A future rock star will not be silenced.
Brown-skinned Latina Lupe Lopez isn’t just ready to go to kindergarten—she’s ready to be the star of kindergarten. Armed with “drumsticks” (really pencils), she marches into the classroom intent on making a splash, until Ms. Quintanilla tells her that school has rules. Instead of gaining instant celebrity, Lupe becomes the first kid in kindergarten to get in trouble. Not to be deterred, however, she forges ahead with her own rock-star rules, like making noise at lunch with makeshift drums and starting an after-school fan club for herself…whose first meeting nobody attends. Dejected, Lupe spends the second day of kindergarten feeling miserable in her ordinariness until she finds a happy medium. Spanish-inflected onomatopoeia describing drumbeats jumps out of the text and makes a bold statement, just like Lupe herself. The mostly light brown–skinned students and adults are authentic to the book’s Texas setting, and Spanish words are scattered throughout. Charlton-Trujillo and Miller’s narrative always respects Lupe’s personality, never making her a joke. Cepeda’s full-bleed spreads are immersive and inviting, while cut-out illustrations surrounded by white space convey the sense of isolation Lupe feels when she is made to tone down her antics. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
An instructive story about balancing big dreams with real life, with a charming heroine to root for. (Picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: June 28, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5362-0954-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Jan. 24, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2022
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
