An important piece of our history brought down to a child’s level.
Based on a true story, Carbone’s story shines a light on the little girl who became the face of the first White House victory garden.
It was 1943, and the United States was at war. Everyone was contributing to the war effort: men were fighting for their country overseas. Women were producing heavy machinery in factories. Ten-year-old Diana Hopkins, who lived in the White House (her father was President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s chief adviser), wanted to help too. At first, she thought she might be a spy and practiced by sneaking into the dumbwaiter. But the housekeeper was not pleased. Then she stuck pins in chairs all around the White House to keep “enemies” at bay. That didn’t go well either, especially since Mrs. Roosevelt’s friend actually sat on one! One day, President Roosevelt presented Diana with the perfect opportunity. Soon, Diana was turning over soil, fertilizing, and planting beans and tomatoes. By the time her vegetables were ready for harvesting, Diana not only provided a bounty for the White House table, but also inspired the whole country to plant victory gardens. Carbone’s straightforward text features just the right details to engage children. It is complemented by Hill’s mix of simple line drawings and muted colors that evoke the era’s austerity. Diana is white, as are the president’s advisers, but many of the White House staff as well as passers-by on Pennsylvania Avenue are black or brown.
An important piece of our history brought down to a child’s level. (author’s note) (Informational picture book. 4-10)Pub Date: May 3, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-670-01649-5
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2016
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones.
Not even the arrival of autumn can cool down this impetuous squirrel.
Although Squirrel is skeptical about Bird’s vegetable patch (“Nothing is HAPPENING!”), Bird does produce five (count them) lovely pumpkins. Squirrel picks out a favorite: “The enormous orange one.” Bird hints that Squirrel might want to help out; Squirrel sets out to fetch some work gloves and returns to find only four pumpkins. The frequently distracted Squirrel notices more gourds disappearing and leaps to the conclusion that a thief is near. And where’s Bird?! Has Squirrel’s pal also been taken? Diligently detecting, Squirrel finds clues—peck marks, footprints, and more—and produces a sketch of the suspect. As readers will guess, each clue turns out to point to one of Squirrel and Bird’s friends. Turns out Bird was delivering pumpkins to their pals while saving the big one to give to “my very best friend,” Squirrel. But why does Squirrel haul it up a tree? “So the Pumpkin Thief can’t find it, of course!” A page of pumpkin facts provides the learning component common to all titles in this series. Once more, readers will enjoy the pleasure of prediction and repetition, Squirrel’s silly persistence, Bird’s generosity, and the vibrant color illustrations, balancing orange with green.
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 28, 2026
ISBN: 9781464268076
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2026
Adventure, humor, and smart, likable characters make for a winning chapter book.
Ada Twist’s incessant stream of questions leads to answers that help solve a neighborhood crisis.
Ada conducts experiments at home to answer questions such as, why does Mom’s coffee smell stronger than Dad’s coffee? Each answer leads to another question, another hypothesis, and another experiment, which is how she goes from collecting data on backyard birds for a citizen-science project to helping Rosie Revere figure out how to get her uncle Ned down from the sky, where his helium-filled “perilous pants” are keeping him afloat. The Questioneers—Rosie the engineer, Iggy Peck the architect, and Ada the scientist—work together, asking questions like scientists. Armed with knowledge (of molecules and air pressure, force and temperature) but more importantly, with curiosity, Ada works out a solution. Ada is a recognizable, three-dimensional girl in this delightfully silly chapter book: tirelessly curious and determined yet easily excited and still learning to express herself. If science concepts aren’t completely clear in this romp, relationships and emotions certainly are. In playful full- and half-page illustrations that break up the text, Ada is black with Afro-textured hair; Rosie and Iggy are white. A closing section on citizen science may inspire readers to get involved in science too; on the other hand, the “Ode to a Gas!” may just puzzle them. Other backmatter topics include the importance of bird study and the threat palm-oil use poses to rainforests.
Adventure, humor, and smart, likable characters make for a winning chapter book. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: April 16, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3422-9
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
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