A deliciously effervescent celebration of family and resilience.
After enduring a humiliating incident, Izzy just wants to be left alone.
Izzy’s “the PRESIDENT of mistakes.” She dribbles queso on her homework, steps in dog poo, and knocks her sibling’s toothbrush into the toilet. After making an especially embarrassing gaffe at school one day, Izzy’s in no mood for a family get-together, but it’s tortilla night! Izzy and her Abuelito (Lito) start rolling dough in the kitchen, but frustrated Izzy keeps messing up. Lito eats her ill-shapen tortillas and lends a sympathetic ear as she reveals what happened earlier. Lito rolls a fresh tortilla and encourages Izzy to “fill” it by retelling her story. Together, they create a mistake taco, or “mistaco,” as Izzy dubs it, and munch on the results. The exercise in openness proves to be tasty, and other family members share past blunders and craft their own mistacos. With her authorial debut, Pura Belpré Honor–winning illustrator Kinkz conveys a message all kids need to hear: Everyone makes mistakes, and owning them can bring relief and even joy. Her signature, scribbly cartoons brim with chaos, capturing the energy of a boisterous, tightknit Latine family. In Izzy, Kinkz has created a fully realized youngster who’s equal parts goofy exuberance and vulnerable insecurity. Izzy’s family members vary in skin tone and speak a mix of Spanish and English; an author’s note offers insight into this blend of languages, known as Spanglish.
A deliciously effervescent celebration of family and resilience. (suggestions for making mistacos) (Picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: April 1, 2025
ISBN: 9780593700235
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Kokila
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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