Girl readers will come away embracing their best possible selves.
Inspired by a real-life child acquaintance of the author, this book aims to encourage girls of all ages to believe in themselves and know they are just enough the way they are.
Protagonist Jayla begins by inviting readers to a heart-to-heart conversation: “Okay, girls…I’ve got something to say!” She’s proud of her mixed African American, Native American, Asian American, and Latinx identity. She offers readers definitive steps to build confidence and self-trust, telling them not to listen to the negative messages they hear in their heads. “That’s called negative self-talk. It’s not good for you, and you don’t have to listen to it!” She goes further: “If your friends tell you those negative things, GET NEW FRIENDS!” Jayla suggests ways to practice positive self-talk, including a simple list of affirmations, and exhorts readers to embrace their unique characteristics. “They make you, YOU!” Robinson’s posterlike illustrations place images of the bespectacled, brown-skinned Jayla at the centers of compositions, disorienting, dark backgrounds containing the negative messages she spurns, including a bank of TV screens blaring such mottos as “Fair-skinned Girls are Pretty” and “Skinny is Best.” Other backgrounds resemble flower-power designs from the early 1970s; another literally depicts right-brain/left-brain strengths, with arithmetic equations on one side and exuberant paint splatters on the other. Jayla ends with a final piece of advice: “believe in yourself and be your own Best Friend forever!”
Girl readers will come away embracing their best possible selves. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 28, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-939053-34-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: 7th Generation
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An affectionate, mouthwatering tale.
Based on a true story, this illustrated children’s book explains the origin of a signature sandwich.
After leaving Palermo, Sicily, Signor Salvatore Lupo comes to New Orleans in 1906. He plans to open a grocery shop stocked with delicacies such as pasta, salami, and more, catering to immigrants like him who miss the taste of home. Nearby, another Sicilian opens a bakery for Italian-style breads, which Salvatore stocks in his shop as part of the lunchtime spread. Though Salvatore’s shop is popular, it’s also small, and some customers have to eat standing up. The traditional style is to have a plate with lots of separate items like cheese, salami, olives, bread, and more, because “Sicilians only ate one thing at a time.” But crowded people and small plates lead to a lot of spills, so Salvatore has a brilliant nontraditional idea: make an olive salad and pile it with salami, ham, and Swiss cheese onto a crusty Italian loaf. Unfortunately, customers complain that the resulting sandwich is too hard to chew until Salvatore has another great notion—use soft muffuletta bread instead. The dish is a huge hit and is still a New Orleans specialty. In her second children’s book, Saunders tells a lively story full of energetic exclamations like “Mamma Mia!” and “kurplunk!” The tale celebrates immigrant ingenuity and the birth of new traditions that still honor one’s roots. Salvatore’s accent could be considered stereotypical, as in “How abouta everything goes on to the breada?” But it’s in the context of respecting his achievements. The work includes recipes for olive salad and muffuletta bread as well as background information about Salvatore and how Saunders came to write the book. The author’s watercolor and ink illustrations, which depict a light-skinned cast, are amusing, gently colored, and sprightly.
An affectionate, mouthwatering tale. (bibliography)Pub Date: Feb. 9, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-950169-32-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Spork
Review Posted Online: Nov. 25, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A reassuring tale of patience and persistence that will especially resonate with kids recovering from injuries or illnesses.
Rosen, now 76, describes relearning to walk with the aid of a cane after contracting Covid-19 and emerging from a medically induced coma.
Rosen didn’t meet the titular walking stick right away. Severely weakened, he “gasped and panted” when the doctors attempted to get him out of bed. He had to learn to stand and balance between parallel bars before transitioning to a cane (personified with googly eyes and a tiny smile), which he dubbed Sticky McStickstick. In the hospital, Sticky enabled him to walk the halls and navigate difficult stairs. But after Rosen returned home, Sticky sometimes “played hide-and-seek,” peeking from inside the washing machine or behind a snoozing cat as Rosen regained enough strength to ascend stairs gripping the banister and to make himself tea. At first, Rosen felt he’d “deserted” his trusty pal. But, he notes, even though he can now climb stairs without using the banister, Sticky waits by the front door “just in case,” a reminder of everyone who helped him to walk again. Rosen’s short, matter-of-fact sentences echo his step-by-step progress; Ross’ energetic, limber cartoon illustrations add humor as Rosen careens haphazardly through hospital hallways in a wheelchair and tenderness as Rosen walks unaided to meet his son’s family in the park. Rosen and his family present White; background characters are racially diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A reassuring tale of patience and persistence that will especially resonate with kids recovering from injuries or illnesses. (author’s note) (Picture-book memoir. 4-6)Pub Date: Nov. 8, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5362-2532-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2022
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