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MAYBE MAYBE MARISOL RAINEY

From the Maybe Marisol series

There’s no maybe about it; readers will enjoy this charming story.

Marisol spends her summer mulling over climbing a tree.

In Marisol Rainey’s Louisiana backyard stands a magnolia tree that she has named Peppina. (Believing that “all important things…should have their own names,” she’s given names to appliances, furniture, and the family car, too.) The tree is perfect for climbing, and everyone loves Peppina. Everyone except Marisol, that is, who is afraid of falling. She has a big imagination, which often causes her to get lost in the what ifs. Marisol spends the summer days with her best friend, Jada, playing and making movies. Jada loves to climb Peppina, and maybe, just maybe, this will be the summer Marisol finds the courage to climb Peppina too. Narrated in third person, present tense, this is a sweet story of a girl trying to overcome her fears and anxieties. Marisol’s story also touches on friendship, bullies, siblings, having a parent who lives away from home (her dad works on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico), and having a parent from another country. Her story is an expression of daily life and feelings that many children will find familiar. The short chapters help move the quiet story along, as do the amusing black-and-white illustrations sprinkled throughout. Fans of Ivy + Bean will enjoy Marisol’s story. Marisol is biracial, with her Filipina mom’s dark hair and eyes; her dad presents White. Jada presents Black.

There’s no maybe about it; readers will enjoy this charming story. (Fiction. 6-9)

Pub Date: May 4, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-06-297042-8

Page Count: 160

Publisher: Greenwillow Books

Review Posted Online: March 16, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2021

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BIRDY'S SMILE BOOK

To Birdy and her dog French Fry, smiles are a necessity and come in many forms. Birdy's monologue celebrating smiles is ingenuously childlike in its tendency to jump from thought to thought—"I can't see my grandpa's smile because his mustache is soooo big it covers his whole mouth! / But somehow I can always tell when he's SMILING. / Grandpa says my smile can light up a room. / I wish it could CLEAN up a room, too." It's also encyclopedic, folding in such disparate concepts as endorphins, cheese, gelatologism (the study of smiles), George Washington and his dental problems and tears of joy. The collaged illustrations are bold and textured and occupy white space in Keller's characteristically exuberant style. The narrative voice and illustrative feel—it even ends with a mirror, a feature normally found in books for babies and toddlers—are at odds with much of the content, which requires the sense of humor and irony of an older child. Whether they will embrace the presentation and Birdy's exhaustive salute remains open to question. (Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 28, 2010

ISBN: 978-0-8050-8883-0

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt

Review Posted Online: July 15, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2010

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RIDING THE TIGER

After a long string of career hits from Bunting (The Wall, 1990, Smoky Night, 1994, etc.), we have a miss: a bald, ham-handed allegory cautioning kids against gang membership and peer conformity. Danny, a ten-year-old, new-kid-on-the-block, is immediately greeted by a savvy tiger that invites him to come along for a ride. In a series of exchanges over multiple pages, they prowl the mean streets of an urban neighborhood. As the ride proceeds, the fun fades and it becomes clear that shopkeepers, cops, girls gathered on a street corner, and even a group shooting baskets are firmly under this tiger's paw. Ominously, gang colors and “tags” (here depicted as the tiger's black paw-print) are everywhere. Happily, the scales fall from Danny's eyes by the short ride's end. When Danny dismounts to help a terrified "bum, rooting through garbage," the tiger turns and snarls his threat: "You've had your chance. You'll never be one of us . . .” The message is pounded home: "Once you get up on the tiger's back, it's hard to get off. . . . But if you get off fast enough it's still possible." Frampton's handsome woodcuts capture the sinister slink of the tiger and the potent mix of attraction and danger he projects. Those who work in therapeutic settings with at-risk kids may want to add it to their treatment arsenal. However, libraries—especially urban libraries—may find this a far too simple answer to a complex question. Most general readers—kids and their parents, grandparents, and older siblings—will find this simplistic and preachy. (Picture book. 6-9)

Pub Date: March 19, 2001

ISBN: 0-395-79731-4

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Clarion Books

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2001

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