This lively tale about a quirky race should entertain children, particularly those who are just learning to read.
In this debut picture book, Pérez shares his vision of the age-old lesson that there is more to life than competing with others.
The brief story opens by introducing Little Mike, who prefers buttons on his clothing, and his cousin Joshua, who prefers zippers. One night, the two boys decide to have a race to see who can put on their pajamas the fastest. Little Mike wins the first round with his buttons because Joshua cannot seem to be able to find his zipper in the dark. The two boys decide to compete again the following night, but when the time comes, Joshua’s zipper gets caught, and Little Mike triumphs again. Finally, Joshua decides to oil his zipper to get it working properly, and he prevails in the third race. When Little Mike discovers his tactic, he decides it’s cheating and demands that they try again with an unoiled zipper. Joshua gets an article of clothing with a newer zipper and wins the fourth contest as well. Because both boys are even in their scores, they decide to ask the Master Tailor which is better, buttons or zippers. The Master Tailor uses a metaphor about how both edges of his scissors work together, and he tells them: “My little ones, it is good to race, compete and win. But again, I think life is not only about winning, but about working together.” The buoyant story is accompanied by Bunda’s (Macimanito Môswa, 2016, etc.) sweet illustrations of the two boys and the Master Tailor. (The cast, however, lacks diversity.) Some of the colorful images show the boys racing in cars or rocket ships as a visual metaphor for their more sedate competition. The plot moves swiftly and thus this simple tale is a quick read. While the message that “winning isn’t everything” is not a new moral, Pérez delivers a fresh and somewhat unexpected take on it. But the text could use another edit, as there are some minor errors in capitalization and punctuation (for example, missing quotation marks). Otherwise, the formatting is consistent and eye-catching.
This lively tale about a quirky race should entertain children, particularly those who are just learning to read.Pub Date: April 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4907-8128-0
Page Count: -
Publisher: Trafford
Review Posted Online: April 18, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.
In Florence’s middle-grade fantasy novel, a young girl’s heart is tested in the face of an evil, spreading Darkness.
Eleven-year-old Lydia, “freckle-cheeked and round-eyed, with hair the color of pine bark and fair skin,” is struggling with the knowledge that she has reached the age to apprentice as an herbalist. Lydia is reluctant to leave her beloved, magical Mulberry Glen and her cozy Housetree in the woods—she’ll miss Garder, the Glen’s respected philosopher; her fairy guardian Pit; her human friend Livy; and even the mischievous part-elf, part-imp, part-human twins Zale and Zamilla. But the twins go missing after hearing of a soul-sapping Darkness that has swallowed a forest and is creeping into minds and engulfing entire towns. They have secretly left to find a rare fruit that, it is said, will stop the Darkness if thrown into the heart of the mountain that rises out of the lethal forest. Lydia follows, determined to find the twins before they, too, fall victim to the Darkness. During her journey, accompanied by new friends, she gradually realizes that she herself has a dangerous role to play in the quest to stop the Darkness. In this well-crafted fantasy, Florence skillfully equates the physical manifestation of Darkness with the feelings of insecurity and powerlessness that Lydia first struggles with when thinking of leaving the Glen. Such negative thoughts grow more intrusive the closer she and her friends come to the Darkness—and to Lydia’s ultimate, powerfully rendered test of character, which leads to a satisfyingly realistic, not quite happily-ever-after ending. Highlights include a delightfully haunting, reality-shifting library and a deft sprinkling of Latin throughout the text; Pit’s pet name for Lydia is mea flosculus (“my little flower”). Fine-lined ink drawings introducing each chapter add a pleasing visual element to this well-grounded fairy tale.
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781956393095
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Waxwing Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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