Too many holes to create a whole.
A picture-book reflection on interconnectedness.
An unnamed child of color describes connections observed in the surrounding world. Unfortunately, the narratorial voice rings false as that of a child, and the connections articulated are oblique, at best. The opening text, in keeping with the title, describes the world as “whole. Every day. When we believe it to be so.” But how is this wholeness supported by the fact that “Uncle Harry believes that my birthday card is always late because he sends it from Providence on a turtle’s back”? This attempt at textual whimsy, as well as others at profundity, falls flat as the child recounts the beliefs of a neighbor (who finds satisfaction in navigating the aisles of the grocery store), a cousin (who enjoys cooking heaps of tamales), a cat (who takes pleasure in napping on open books), and their own parents but never reveals how they achieve wholeness singly or together. Indeed, the child’s father’s delight in playing baseball with people who are not his family members stands in dramatic contrast to their mother’s belief that family is of utmost importance. Illustrations with a flat aesthetic evoking paper dolls are more successful in at least delivering a portrait of a mixed-race child beloved by family and secure in the world, but that world may well remain baffling to readers.
Too many holes to create a whole. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: May 15, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5341-1027-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
Gently models kindness and respect—positive behavior that can be applied daily.
A group of young “dinosauruses” go out into the world on their own.
A fuchsia little Hugasaurus and her Pappysaur (both of whom resemble Triceratops) have never been apart before, but Hugasaurus happily heads off with lunchbox in hand and “wonder in her heart” to make new friends. The story has a first-day-of-school feeling, but Hugasaurus doesn’t end up in a formal school environment; rather, she finds herself on a playground with other little prehistoric creatures, though no teacher or adult seems to be around. At first, the new friends laugh and play. But Hugasaurus’ pals begin to squabble, and play comes to a halt. As she wonders what to do, a fuzzy platypus playmate asks some wise questions (“What…would your Pappy say to do? / What makes YOU feel better?”), and Hugasaurus decides to give everyone a hug—though she remembers to ask permission first. Slowly, good humor is restored and play begins anew with promises to be slow to anger and, in general, to help create a kinder world. Short rhyming verses occasionally use near rhyme but also include fun pairs like ripples and double-triples. Featuring cozy illustrations of brightly colored creatures, the tale sends a strong message about appropriate and inappropriate ways to resolve conflict, the final pages restating the lesson plainly in a refrain that could become a classroom motto. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Gently models kindness and respect—positive behavior that can be applied daily. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Dec. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-338-82869-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2022
A straightforward tale of conflict and reconciliation for newly emergent readers? Not exactly, which raises it above the...
In this deceptively spare, very beginning reader, a girl assembles a robot and then treats it like a slave until it goes on strike.
Having put the robot together from a jumble of loose parts, the budding engineer issues an increasingly peremptory series of rhymed orders— “Throw, Bot. / Row, Bot”—that turn from playful activities like chasing bubbles in the yard to tasks like hoeing the garden, mowing the lawn and towing her around in a wagon. Jung crafts a robot with riveted edges, big googly eyes and a smile that turns down in stages to a scowl as the work is piled on. At last, the exhausted robot plops itself down, then in response to its tormentor’s angry “Don’t say no, Bot!” stomps off in a huff. In one to four spacious, sequential panels per spread, Jung develops both the plotline and the emotional conflict using smoothly modeled cartoon figures against monochromatic or minimally detailed backgrounds. The child’s commands, confined in small dialogue balloons, are rhymed until her repentant “Come on home, Bot” breaks the pattern but leads to a more equitable division of labor at the end.
A straightforward tale of conflict and reconciliation for newly emergent readers? Not exactly, which raises it above the rest. (Easy reader. 4-6)Pub Date: June 25, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-375-87083-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2013
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