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
A charming and simply told story with a clear message.
An illustrated children’s tale of one cat’s adventure in the big city and the lessons she learned along the way.
Bunny, a feline, lives a charmed life in a posh Manhattan apartment alongside her owners—a nice couple who adopted her from the local animal shelter. Bunny soon makes friends with Mike the Mouse, who decides to make the hole that he’s nibbled in a closet wall big enough for Bunny to slip through—and their adventures begin. But soon Bunny sees a photo caption in a copy of the New York Times that really disturbs her: “Central Park carriage horse ‘Joe,’ one of several allegedly mistreated by its driver.” Bunny doesn’t know what alleged means, but the rest of the sentence is clear enough, so she decides to help Joe escape his situation. With the help of Mike the Mouse, Polly the Pigeon, and various other friends she meets along the way, Bunny finally gets to Central Park to make her daring rescue. Over the course of Bloom’s book, Bunny embodies the idea that small creatures can do great things; for example, when Joe the Carriage Horse expresses disbelief that Bunny can help him, the plucky cat reminds him that she’s “a tiny thing who’s very determined.” Young readers will likely find that determination to be contagious, and it may appeal to even the tiniest animal lovers. The book’s simple prose and Mayell’s eye-catching ink-and-watercolor illustrations make the most out of a minimalist color palette; Bunny’s dark black fur and bright green eyes are prominent as the most richly drawn images in every blue-tinged picture.
A charming and simply told story with a clear message.Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2023
ISBN: 9780997642537
Page Count: 74
Publisher: Positivity Publishing LLC
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Engaging characters and action will leave readers longing to sail onward.
A kitten’s exciting early-19th-century adventures, presented in five fast-paced chapters.
Trim, a lively, scrawny dark-gray kitten with big eyes, white feet, and a star over his chest, longs to see the world. Chasing a bee, he tumbles onto a friendly pooch, Penny, and decides he wants to be a ship’s dog, just like her. Penny states the obvious. But light-skinned Captain Flinders needs a ship’s cat, so Trim climbs his epauletted shoulder and is rowed out to the three-masted ship. There, the kitten is dive-bombed by an antagonistic parrot named Jack, who nevertheless teaches him the proper terms for his new home: bow, stern, starboard, port. Trim races easily up the mast to sit in the crow’s nest with the boyish brown-skinned ship’s artist, Will. But coming down proves difficult, until Trim does his best and succeeds. And he even finds a way to prove himself to Jack—and earn Jack’s friendship. Accurately depicting the sloop, the watercolorlike illustrations provide just enough historical detail, including the ship’s food and Flinders’ Napoleonic hat, breeches, buckled pumps, and stockings. The animals are realistic (though Jack gets a bit anthropomorphized). Most vocabulary is simple, with a couple of challenges. Tracking Trim’s exploits, readers are never bored. Backmatter explains that Trim is based on a real-life cat, born in 1799 and owned by British explorer Matthew Flinders.
Engaging characters and action will leave readers longing to sail onward. (Historical chapter book. 7-9)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2023
ISBN: 9781682632901
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
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