The sky’s the limit for Bunting’s (Sing a Song of Piglets, p. 1218, etc.) assemblage of vivacious young ladies who imagine themselves in every profession under the sun. A simple alliterative listing of names and occupations is the basis of this affirming roll call. The exotic roster of appellations is a perfect match for the varied scope of vocations detailed; descriptions range from Gwen the gondolier, Quinn the harvest queen, Windermere the writer, to Ula the umpire. Bunting expands the horizon of employment opportunities for young girls, judiciously offering a blend of traditional and historically less-traditional female pursuits, firmly putting aside the notion of gender-specific employment. Librarians play alongside racecar drivers, a presidential candidate and a homemaker are equally touted, and a computer aficionado shares a spread with a ballerina. The gentle cadence of the rhyming text ties the verses together, unifying the seemingly disparate list of names and occupations. Bloom’s (Piggy Monday, 2001, etc.) exuberantly colored illustrations convey the enthusiasm of these youngsters as they test the waters of possibilities. Like the avocations selected by Bunting, Bloom offers readers a broad spectrum of role models, portraying girls in a range of ethnicities, shapes, and physical characteristics. The final verse succinctly summarizes Bunting’s empowering message: “Girls, / Be anything you want to be. / Do what you want to do. / Dream any dream you want to dream. / The world is here for you. ” A treasure that should be on every young girl’s bookshelf and maybe on a boy’s as well. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2002
ISBN: 1-56397-147-X
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2002
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.
The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on...
Continuing from their acclaimed Those Shoes (2007), Boelts and Jones entwine conversations on money, motives, and morality.
This second collaboration between author and illustrator is set within an urban multicultural streetscape, where brown-skinned protagonist Ruben wishes for a bike like his friend Sergio’s. He wishes, but Ruben knows too well the pressure his family feels to prioritize the essentials. While Sergio buys a pack of football cards from Sonny’s Grocery, Ruben must buy the bread his mom wants. A familiar lady drops what Ruben believes to be a $1 bill, but picking it up, to his shock, he discovers $100! Is this Ruben’s chance to get himself the bike of his dreams? In a fateful twist, Ruben loses track of the C-note and is sent into a panic. After finally finding it nestled deep in a backpack pocket, he comes to a sense of moral clarity: “I remember how it was for me when that money that was hers—then mine—was gone.” When he returns the bill to her, the lady offers Ruben her blessing, leaving him with double-dipped emotions, “happy and mixed up, full and empty.” Readers will be pleased that there’s no reward for Ruben’s choice of integrity beyond the priceless love and warmth of a family’s care and pride.
Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on children. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6649-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
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