This is an enjoyable introduction to the world of dance that portrays dance as a diverse art form and capable means of...
Photo essayist Ancona introduces readers to the joys of dance through the eyes of four grade schoolers: Raptor, Ely, Logan, and Ryan.
Through the work of the National Dance Institute of New Mexico, the boys and their classmates are introduced to various styles of performance, including ballet, tap, and even stage combat. Dance requires a great deal of strength and energy, to run, leap, and lift their partners in the pas de deux. This artistic athleticism is perfectly suited to these exuberant boys. Many weeks of rehearsal culminate in a live performance involving hundreds of other schoolchildren and community members dancing pieces inspired by various works of literature. Though the boys (two kids of color and two who present as white) are the featured characters, the ensembles are clearly coeducational and racially diverse. Ancona highlights many stereotypically masculine aspects of dance (stage fighting; lifts and flips) that young people may be unaware of, likely hoping to appeal to other young men who might harbor the misconception of dance as an exclusively feminine performance art. The simple text is choppy at times; here the photographs fill in many of the missing details, though younger readers may need help to make these leaps of inference.
This is an enjoyable introduction to the world of dance that portrays dance as a diverse art form and capable means of expression for all children . (Informational picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: April 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7636-8202-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Dec. 20, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2017
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre.
Ice princess Lina must navigate family and school in this early chapter read.
The family picnic is today. This is not a typical gathering, since Lina’s maternal relatives are a royal family of Windtamers who have power over the weather and live in castles floating on clouds. Lina herself is mixed race, with black hair and a tan complexion like her Asian-presenting mother’s; her Groundling father appears to be a white human. While making a grand entrance at the castle of her grandfather, the North Wind, she fails to successfully ride a gust of wind and crashes in front of her entire family. This prompts her stern grandfather to ask that Lina move in with him so he can teach her to control her powers. Desperate to avoid this, Lina and her friend Claudia, who is black, get Lina accepted at the Hilltop Science and Arts Academy. Lina’s parents allow her to go as long as she does lessons with grandpa on Saturdays. However, fitting in at a Groundling school is rough, especially when your powers start freak winter storms! With the story unfurling in diary format, bright-pink–highlighted grayscale illustrations help move the plot along. There are slight gaps in the storytelling and the pacing is occasionally uneven, but Lina is full of spunk and promotes self-acceptance.
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre. (Fantasy. 5-8)Pub Date: June 25, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-35393-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode.
A long-running series reaches its closing chapters.
Having, as Kline notes in her warm valedictory acknowledgements, taken 30 years to get through second and third grade, Harry Spooger is overdue to move on—but not just into fourth grade, it turns out, as his family is moving to another town as soon as the school year ends. The news leaves his best friend, narrator “Dougo,” devastated…particularly as Harry doesn’t seem all that fussed about it. With series fans in mind, the author takes Harry through a sort of last-day-of-school farewell tour. From his desk he pulls a burned hot dog and other items that featured in past episodes, says goodbye to Song Lee and other classmates, and even (for the first time ever) leads Doug and readers into his house and memento-strewn room for further reminiscing. Of course, Harry isn’t as blasé about the move as he pretends, and eyes aren’t exactly dry when he departs. But hardly is he out of sight before Doug is meeting Mohammad, a new neighbor from Syria who (along with further diversifying a cast that began as mostly white but has become increasingly multiethnic over the years) will also be starting fourth grade at summer’s end, and planning a written account of his “horrible” buddy’s exploits. Finished illustrations not seen.
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Nov. 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-451-47963-1
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
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