Jabari succeeds, and so does this book.
Jabari works hard to build a gizmo that flies, but his best modification may be inspired by his partner.
When Jabari announces his machine will fly “all the way across” their spacious, landscaped yard, he is certain he won’t need any help. While his father gardens and his younger sister plays, Jabari builds a launch ramp, sends his machine through, and…crash! Little Nika wants in on the fun, but Jabari is “concentrating.” He takes inspiration from inventors and engineers, who use creativity and hard work to solve their problems. He plans, sketches, builds, and tries and tries again. He lets Nika help out, reluctantly at first, and when he gets so frustrated he wants to cry, he takes his father’s advice: gathering his patience and blowing away his “muddy feelings.” When he tries once more, with a clear head and support from his pint-sized partner, he discovers a change that makes his machine—and his confidence—soar. This generously sized picture book offers a lovely picture of mentorship and healthy relationships in the context of a thriving Black family with dark skin tones. Jabari’s emotional ups and downs will be familiar to young children, and his hard-won success feels triumphant. Cornwall’s clean, clear illustrations use patterns, green hues, and white space to deliver a variety of effective scenes.
Jabari succeeds, and so does this book. (Picture book. 3-9)Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5362-0716-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
A worthwhile tale to encourage sound financial habits.
A headstrong hog demonstrates the do’s and don’ts of saving for a big purchase.
The titular piggy bank rushes to help a bevy of anthropomorphic bills and coins save up for a sled during winter. He wants to do right by his ancestors, seen in a series of porcine portraits on the wall. If only he hadn’t skipped reading The Official Bank Handbook or neglected to plug his belly with a stopper. As a result, Piggy searches for loose change beneath couch cushions and in laundry machines, only for the scant savings to scatter. Sitting still to save money over time is excruciating for Piggy and company, but our hero acquires a work ethic and a sense of thriftiness just in time to make ends meet, purchase a sled, and hit the slopes. In addition to learning temperance and industriousness, Piggy must be dissuaded from taking money from a purse and jollied out of wallowing in tears. His enthusiastic foolhardiness makes him a good Goofus for Gallant readers to cautiously follow through to his eventual redemption. With his shiny round body and frequently smiling face, he’s a natural playmate for the money characters, whom readers may recognize from three previous, loosely connected books by Wilson and Hoffmann. Backmatter traces the centuries-old history of piggy banks and savings funds while sharing savings-related tips and a bibliography.
A worthwhile tale to encourage sound financial habits. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9798890033079
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Page Street
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Like its subject: full of bustling life yet peaceful.
Life buzzes in a community garden.
Surrounded by apartment buildings, this city garden gets plenty of human attention, but the book’s stars are the plants and insects. The opening spread shows a black child in a striped shirt sitting in a top-story window; the nearby trees and garden below reveal the beginnings of greenery that signal springtime. From that high-up view, the garden looks quiet—but it’s not. “Sleepy slugs / and garden snails / leave behind their silver trails. / Frantic teams of busy ants / scramble up the stems of plants”; and “In the earth / a single seed / sits beside a millipede. / Worms and termites / dig and toil / moving through the garden soil.” Sicuro zooms in too, showing a robin taller than a half-page; later, close-ups foreground flowers, leaves, and bugs while people (children and adults, a multiracial group) are crucial but secondary, sometimes visible only as feet. Watercolor illustrations with ink and charcoal highlights create a soft, warm, horticulturally damp environment. Scale and perspective are more stylized than literal. McCanna’s superb scansion never misses, incorporating lists of insects and plants (“Lacewings, gnats, / mosquitos, spiders, / dragonflies, and water striders / live among the cattail reeds, / lily pads, and waterweeds”) with description (“Sunlight warms the morning air. / Dewdrops shimmer / here and there”). Readers see more than gardeners do, such as rabbits stealing carrots and lettuce from garden boxes.
Like its subject: full of bustling life yet peaceful. (author’s note) (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5344-1797-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
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