A vivid and informative, if limited, tale about Brazil for young readers.
This third installment of a children’s book series follows a family on a trip to Rio de Janeiro.
Sometimes dreams become reality. When Mori dreams of traveling to Brazil on vacation, he wakes up to find out that he; his sister, Valencia; and his parents really are going there in less than a week. Their trip is frantic from the get-go, as they oversleep and almost miss their flight from Atlanta. They barely stop to rest upon arrival in Rio and instead choose to go straight to the beach. Their trip is marked by nonstop tourism as they visit local landmarks and learn about Brazil’s Indigenous history. There is something for everyone: a museum trip about Brazil’s history of colonization by the Portuguese, a venture into the Amazon rainforest to see the animals, and a front-row seat at Carnival. But despite the novel’s title, it does not demonstrate an actual exchange of cultures: Readers simply follow Mori and his family as they tour Rio and its surroundings. Godoy’s story is fairly devoid of plot but makes a special effort to make every moment teachable and includes an emphasis on the Indigenous cultures of Brazil. Punctuating the tale from time to time are Lim’s black-and-white illustrations, which are light on artistic details but nonetheless convey a certain brightness and energy through the characters’ facial expressions. There is neither backmatter citing sources for the story’s facts nor avenues for further exploration for readers interested in Brazil. Some facts, such as “The people in Brazil totally respect” the statue called Christ the Redeemer and “most of them, especially the Christians, see Christ as the Savior of the world,” beg for supporting evidence. But families willing to overlook this may use this bookas an introduction for early elementary school kids to this South American nation. They may also appreciate the emphasis on the African diaspora; Mori and his family are Black Americans.
A vivid and informative, if limited, tale about Brazil for young readers.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 9780999473443
Page Count: 70
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Superficial—but still comforting and reassuring, with problems neatly tied up and solved.
There are so many challenging changes in Twig’s world.
Twig and her little sister, Turtle, are facing a first day of school for the third time, and it’s only October. Their parents sold their home in Boston, moved temporarily to live with Grandma in Denver, and now to a new, tiny house in Happy Trails, Colorado, so confining that almost everything had to be left behind, including Bo, a beloved Great Dane. When Grandma tells them she has found a new family for Bo, Twig must find a way to get him back. With the help of new friends and teachers, and a lot of research and planning, Twig comes up with an amazing solution that will bring Bo back into her life, help children with reading, and provide companionship for Mr. Kim, the school custodian (who appears only twice in the action). Readers will find Twig and Turtle delightful, coping with their unusual and interesting obstacles with determination and great resourcefulness. Unfortunately Jacobson’s cast of secondary characters is quite one-dimensional. Upsetting actions at first meetings with classmates are revealed to be completely unintentional and easily explained away. Mom and Dad are loving but distracted. The Social Skills Club leader leads her charges unerringly to self-awareness and happiness. Even Writing Workshop protocols are perfectly aligned with Twig’s success. Twig and Turtle’s family presents White; illustrations reveal a vibrantly diverse student body. Sequel Toy Store Trouble publishes simultaneously.
Superficial—but still comforting and reassuring, with problems neatly tied up and solved. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-64595-021-9
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Pixel+Ink
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
Hopefully future installments will carry some substance.
An origin story for mysterious, magical triplets.
Eight-year-old triplets Emmy, Clare, and Giselle celebrate Founding Day—the day their veterinarian father, Dr. J.A., found them—instead of a birthday. Each girl has a baby animal pet (bear cub Claw, wolf pup Fluffy, and eaglet Soar), feels a special connection to trillium flowers for their three petals, and is indistinguishable from her sisters aside from occasional telling-not-showing characterization and illustrations that render Giselle as a girl of color while the rest of the family presents White. On their eighth Founding Day, their father, upset to see that the trillium patch where he first found his daughters has been uprooted, diverges from their traditions to replant the flowers and to reveal that there’s more to the original Founding Day story than he’s told them. Back then, a large trillium flower glowed before bursting into sparkles and leaving trillium petal charms behind that Dr. J.A. now gives to the girls. Later, when Emmy and their younger brother, Zee, go to pick strawberries, Zee falls into a river. The triplets work together to try to save him, but it isn’t enough until the charms activate, giving the girls superpowers and new outfits, and making their pets huge. Although the woodsy setting (especially their treehouse home) and animals charm, the blandness of both characters and plot falls short of magical. In the simultaneously releasing sequel, Bestie Day, freed from the burden of expository backstory, the plot (a White bully and her subservient, Asian-presenting best friend endanger bees by cutting too many wildflowers) gets moving faster but offers only marginal improvements.
Hopefully future installments will carry some substance. (Fantasy. 7-9)Pub Date: June 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-64595-014-1
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Pixel+Ink
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2021
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