This exploration of tears is reassuring and nonjudgmental.
A boy asks his mother a simple question and receives a not-so-simple answer.
Mario’s mother lists some of the many reasons people cry in sensitively nuanced metaphors layered with emotional truths. Each spread prints one word or phrase in a slightly larger font than the rest, subtly but effectively drawing readers’ attention to a particular feeling. Among the obvious are “sadness,” “anger,” and “happy.” The more nuanced concepts include “grow,” “lock,” and “wall,” which the surrounding text and illustrations help convey. All the while, readers see a young girl, perhaps the mother when she was young, experiencing these emotions. Encapsulating it all, Mario’s mother finally says, “But more than anything, sweetheart, we cry because we feel like crying.” In the backmatter, Pintadera further answers other, scientifically based questions about tears, such as “What are tears made of?” and “Why are tears good for us?” While the scientific perspective at first seems out of place in such an emotional book, it helps remove some of the stigma surrounding the act of crying. The text assures readers that tears are a natural biological function with several purposes: “Who cries?…crying is universal, just like laughter.” Additional discussion activities prompt readers to make personal connections. This book, originally published in Spain, features a pale-skinned, black-haired parent and child. The textured images generate appropriate moods, providing powerful symbolic visuals for the addressed emotions. Many could hang in an art gallery as part of a surrealist collection.
This exploration of tears is reassuring and nonjudgmental. (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: April 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5253-0477-4
Page Count: 34
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2020
Spires’ understanding of the fragility and power of the artistic impulse mixes with expert pacing and subtle...
Making things is difficult work. Readers will recognize the stages of this young heroine’s experience as she struggles to realize her vision.
First comes anticipation. The artist/engineer is spotted jauntily pulling a wagonload of junkyard treasures. Accompanied by her trusty canine companion, she begins drawing plans and building an assemblage. The narration has a breezy tone: “[S]he makes things all the time. Easy-peasy!” The colorful caricatures and creations contrast with the digital black outlines on a white background that depict an urban neighborhood. Intermittent blue-gray panels break up the white expanses on selected pages showing sequential actions. When the first piece doesn’t turn out as desired, the protagonist tries again, hoping to achieve magnificence. A model of persistence, she tries many adjustments; the vocabulary alone offers constructive behaviors: she “tinkers,” “wrenches,” “fiddles,” “examines,” “stares” and “tweaks.” Such hard work, however, combines with disappointing results, eventually leading to frustration, anger and injury. Explosive emotions are followed by defeat, portrayed with a small font and scaled-down figures. When the dog, whose expressions have humorously mirrored his owner’s through each phase, retrieves his leash, the resulting stroll serves them well. A fresh perspective brings renewed enthusiasm and—spoiler alert—a most magnificent scooter sidecar for a loyal assistant.
Spires’ understanding of the fragility and power of the artistic impulse mixes with expert pacing and subtle characterization for maximum delight. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-55453-704-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: Feb. 25, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
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