A thoughtful story that emphasizes kindness and self-esteem.
A girl learns to embrace her accent in Trust’s debut picture book.
Daisy and her family move from England to the U.S. At her new school, kids tease her about her English accent. Although hurt, she tries to stay strong but often holds back tears. She also struggles to adjust to calling things by different names: “What I call trousers, they call pants.” After Daisy’s brother, Billy, sees her reading How To Sound American, he informs their parents. Daisy cries and tells them about her struggles. Mum and Dad give their daughter a pep talk, saying she should be proud of where she comes from and embrace who she is. The next day at school, Daisy ignores the taunts. She says, “What makes us different, makes us great” and offers her classmates friendship. Now, they think her accent is “cool.” Daisy decides, “Though I say mate, and they say friend, it doesn’t matter in the end.” The book offers empathetic insight into what it’s like being a new student and includes a glossary featuring variations between British and American English, like mom and mum. Adhi’s cartoonish illustrations are bright and engaging. They also show details like thought bubbles and backdrops, such as a charming cityscape of Daisy in London. Daisy presents White; her schoolmates are Black, Asian, and White.
A thoughtful story that emphasizes kindness and self-esteem.Pub Date: Feb. 23, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-73635-452-0
Page Count: 34
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A book that will make young dog-owners smile in recognition and confirm dogless readers' worst suspicions about the mayhem caused by pets, even winsome ones. Sam, who bears passing resemblance to an affable golden retriever, is praised for fetching the family newspaper, and goes on to fetch every other newspaper on the block. In the next story, only the children love Sam's swimming; he is yelled at by lifeguards and fishermen alike when he splashes through every watering hole he can find. Finally, there is woe to the entire family when Sam is bored and lonely for one long night. Boland has an essential message, captured in both both story and illustrations of this Easy-to-Read: Kids and dogs belong together, especially when it's a fun-loving canine like Sam. An appealing tale. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-8037-1530-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1996
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions.
Ellis, known for her illustrations for Colin Meloy’s Wildwood series, here riffs on the concept of “home.”
Shifting among homes mundane and speculative, contemporary and not, Ellis begins and ends with views of her own home and a peek into her studio. She highlights palaces and mansions, but she also takes readers to animal homes and a certain famously folkloric shoe (whose iconic Old Woman manages a passel of multiethnic kids absorbed in daring games). One spread showcases “some folks” who “live on the road”; a band unloads its tour bus in front of a theater marquee. Ellis’ compelling ink and gouache paintings, in a palette of blue-grays, sepia and brick red, depict scenes ranging from mythical, underwater Atlantis to a distant moonscape. Another spread, depicting a garden and large building under connected, transparent domes, invites readers to wonder: “Who in the world lives here? / And why?” (Earth is seen as a distant blue marble.) Some of Ellis’ chosen depictions, oddly juxtaposed and stripped of any historical or cultural context due to the stylized design and spare text, become stereotypical. “Some homes are boats. / Some homes are wigwams.” A sailing ship’s crew seems poised to land near a trio of men clad in breechcloths—otherwise unidentified and unremarked upon.
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6529-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
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