Though hardly a bullying silver bullet, this is an artful take on resilience.
A lonely, bullied child comes to proudly claim the label her tormentors give her, refusing to let their hateful judgment determine her self-worth.
Lila, a brown-skinned, black-haired girl of ambiguous ethnicity, is initially filled with joy at the prospect of making friends at her new school. Unfortunately, one boy in the classroom of fair-skinned children taunts her, jeering that her hair, skin, and eyes are “dark like a crow!!” This may confuse some young readers, as her skin is clearly a light brown. As the bullying escalates, Lila becomes isolated, the other children moving from passive bystanders to active participants in her persecution. A kindly and persistent crow who waits for Lila as she heads home from school each day helps her shift from trying to hide her appearance to appreciating and celebrating it. This newfound confidence inspires Lila to make a dramatic gesture that changes the dynamics in the classroom for the better. Translated from the French, this is the first book written by Québecoise illustrator Grimard and has obvious uses for starting conversations about embracing differences, being an upstander rather than a bystander, and the reclamation of words used as insults. The element of magical realism and luminous watercolor illustrations give this story a fairy-tale–like appeal, quite different from that of purely message-driven anti-bullying books.
Though hardly a bullying silver bullet, this is an artful take on resilience. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 11, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-55451-858-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Annick Press
Review Posted Online: June 27, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2016
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted...
Reinvention is the name of the game for two blobs of clay.
A blue-eyed gray blob and a brown-eyed brown blob sit side by side, unsure as to what’s going to happen next. The gray anticipates an adventure, while the brown appears apprehensive. A pair of hands descends, and soon, amid a flurry of squishing and prodding and poking and sculpting, a handsome gray wolf and a stately brown owl emerge. The hands disappear, leaving the friends to their own devices. The owl is pleased, but the wolf convinces it that the best is yet to come. An ear pulled here and an extra eye placed there, and before you can shake a carving stick, a spurt of frenetic self-exploration—expressed as a tangled black scribble—reveals a succession of smug hybrid beasts. After all, the opportunity to become a “pig-e-phant” doesn’t come around every day. But the sound of approaching footsteps panics the pair of Picassos. How are they going to “fix [them]selves” on time? Soon a hippopotamus and peacock are staring bug-eyed at a returning pair of astonished hands. The creative naiveté of the “clay mates” is perfectly captured by Petty’s feisty, spot-on dialogue: “This was your idea…and it was a BAD one.” Eldridge’s endearing sculpted images are photographed against the stark white background of an artist’s work table to great effect.
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted fun of their own . (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-30311-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre.
Ice princess Lina must navigate family and school in this early chapter read.
The family picnic is today. This is not a typical gathering, since Lina’s maternal relatives are a royal family of Windtamers who have power over the weather and live in castles floating on clouds. Lina herself is mixed race, with black hair and a tan complexion like her Asian-presenting mother’s; her Groundling father appears to be a white human. While making a grand entrance at the castle of her grandfather, the North Wind, she fails to successfully ride a gust of wind and crashes in front of her entire family. This prompts her stern grandfather to ask that Lina move in with him so he can teach her to control her powers. Desperate to avoid this, Lina and her friend Claudia, who is black, get Lina accepted at the Hilltop Science and Arts Academy. Lina’s parents allow her to go as long as she does lessons with grandpa on Saturdays. However, fitting in at a Groundling school is rough, especially when your powers start freak winter storms! With the story unfurling in diary format, bright-pink–highlighted grayscale illustrations help move the plot along. There are slight gaps in the storytelling and the pacing is occasionally uneven, but Lina is full of spunk and promotes self-acceptance.
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre. (Fantasy. 5-8)Pub Date: June 25, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-35393-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
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