A disappointing example of exoticization.
City kid Theo narrates their father’s trip to “the mother of all jungles”—as well as the young protagonist’s own silly attempts to pantomime the Indigenous ways of life relayed in their father’s tales.
For example: When Theo learns that “the people in the jungle” include tucus (a variety of large worms) in their diet, the curious child heads for the garden to “[dig] up some earthworms.” The text grows more serious when the storyteller’s father describes the jungle’s environmental plight: the dwindling of the harpy eagle and ranching-induced deforestation. Enchanted by stories of the jungle’s Native population and the spirits who live among them, Theo declares, “If I go to the jungle one day, I’ll tell the spirits that I love them and ask them to come over.” Meanwhile, illustrator Decis depicts Indigenous spirits as white, round-faced creatures with wings and two twigs coming out of their heads; it’s unclear whether this rendering has any resemblance to how Sápara people (identified by name only in the backmatter) view their own spirits. Sadly, Sápara people and their Amazonian home are flattened in this narrative despite the author’s gestures at self-reflection. In a book focusing on the struggles of a Native people, the acknowledgment page and author’s note spend more time applauding the Spanish researcher in charge of Gusti’s expedition into the Amazon for “her inexhaustible struggle to save the South American jungle.”
A disappointing example of exoticization. (publisher’s note, epilogue) (Picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: June 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-77164-670-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Greystone Kids
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
In all, Sofia is a likable new protagonist to add to the lineup of chapter-book heroines.
Everyday stories reminiscent of Ramona in an early chapter book.
Sofia Martinez is a creative 7-year-old whose life revolves around her family. Sofia—who likes to stand out—is frustrated when she notices that she and both of her older sisters wore blue for last year’s school pictures. Swapping the photos into different frames, Sofia is further annoyed when no one notices. In the next chapter, Sofia feels ignored when family members obsess over her baby cousin, who wears a big hair bow. Though Sofia is out of sorts for a while, a conversation with her caring Papá (one of many—but not too many—Spanish words peppered throughout) helps her hatch a plan to draw the spotlight. Two more episodes also appear in a series of short, accessible chapters and are more interesting than the first. Colorful illustrations on at least every other page should draw reluctant readers, while Spanish words and phrases printed in pink are easily identifiable should readers want to use the glossary for definitions (though the meanings of the words are usually made clear through context). The book’s major drawback is that many of the characters look nearly identical; readers will have to look closely at hairstyles and height to distinguish Sofia from her sisters.
In all, Sofia is a likable new protagonist to add to the lineup of chapter-book heroines. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4795-5790-5
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Picture Window Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A heartfelt forward pass from one generation to the next (and the next).
A pigskin-themed paean to family and family traditions.
As images depict a football-shaped newborn growing up, marrying, and helping to produce another—the second actually dressed in a football onesie, which is adorable—sports podcaster Holloway notes rookie season fumbles and triumphs, team huddles on the sofa to watch the big games, the passage of quarters and seasons, and major life events (like the wedding: “One day you may get drafted / To a franchise of your own”). All the while, Holloway promises to cheer from the sidelines in victory or defeat, to be there when needed, and to give each “wonderful expansion / of our football family” both a welcome and proper coaching. The family in Jang’s shiny, reasonably realistic illustrations includes three children. The verse’s language is nonspecific enough to apply to offspring of any gender as well as adoptees. In school settings and on playing fields of several sorts, the child, at various ages, light-skinned like their parents, joins a diverse group of peers, including one wearing a hijab and another who uses a hearing aid, while the child’s own family includes a dark-skinned sibling and, by the end, a child with, like their spouse, Asian features. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A heartfelt forward pass from one generation to the next (and the next). (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-84715-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
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