A cheery if superficial treatment of a common theme.
Children are immensely proud of parents who work serving the public in many important ways.
A group of young children describe their parents’ jobs, stressing how they are crucial to a well-functioning community. There are police officers, teachers, foreign-aid volunteers, lifeguards, letter carriers, firefighters, school bus drivers, and more. Each parent worker is introduced in a brief rhyme on a double-page spread accompanied by an illustration depicting that parent in action. The text, in an abcb rhyme scheme, is descriptive, accessible, and pertinent. Tikkou’s bright illustrations are neatly integrated with the text, providing additional details about the jobs and the workers. The children, a multiracial group, are first seen on the title page with their backpacks on their way to school and then in the classroom for the introductory rhyme. The delivery is bright and uncomplicated. The police-officer parent “helps to keep the peace,” a loaded comment that may well fall flat with children whose community interactions with the police are far from peaceful. A companion work, Keeping Us Healthy, follows the same format, focusing on ambulance drivers, X-ray technicians, dentists, veterinarians, and other healers. The diversity is even more striking, with a “daddy” nurse and “mommy” doctor (both people of color) and a white pharmacist who uses a wheelchair. Parents and young readers will find much to discuss.
A cheery if superficial treatment of a common theme. (Informational picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-68464-057-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kane Miller
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2020
Adults will do better skipping the book and talking with their children.
Social-equity themes are presented to children in ABC format.
Terms related to intersectional inequality, such as “class,” “gender,” “privilege,” “oppression,” “race,” and “sex,” as well as other topics important to social justice such as “feminism,” “human being,” “immigration,” “justice,” “kindness,” “multicultural,” “transgender,” “understanding,” and “value” are named and explained. There are 26 in all, one for each letter of the alphabet. Colorful two-page spreads with kid-friendly illustrations present each term. First the term is described: “Belief is when you are confident something exists even if you can’t see it. Lots of different beliefs fill the world, and no single belief is right for everyone.” On the facing page it concludes: “B is for BELIEF / Everyone has different beliefs.” It is hard to see who the intended audience for this little board book is. Babies and toddlers are busy learning the names for their body parts, familiar objects around them, and perhaps some basic feelings like happy, hungry, and sad; slightly older preschoolers will probably be bewildered by explanations such as: “A value is an expression of how to live a belief. A value can serve as a guide for how you behave around other human beings. / V is for VALUE / Live your beliefs out loud.”
Adults will do better skipping the book and talking with their children. (Board book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-78603-742-8
Page Count: 52
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2019
A mixed bag.
An alphabetical tour of emotions.
This British import mixes words that many young kids will know, such as brave, kind, and mad (the last defined in the American sense, as angry), with less-familiar ones such as overwhelmed and vulnerable. It even features at least one word that may be new to adults: “X is for Xenial….Xenial is being welcoming to strangers.” Compounding the difficulty here, the visual image of a Black kid dressed as a magician hugging a rabbit they’ve pulled out of a hat does not exactly illustrate xeniality (xenialness?). Other illustrations do a better job of helping readers understand the words being introduced. The illustrations feature racially diverse children and are usually paired in each double-page spread: “A is for Anxious. Anxious is feeling really worried about something. / B is for Brave. Brave is being nervous about something and doing it anyway.” On the A page, a brown-skinned kid cowers from the dragon that encircles their bed, as in a nightmare. Across the gutter on the B page, the ferociously scowling child confronts the now-intimidated monster. Kids will get an immediate sense of those two words. Animals, real and imaginary, often play a role in the pictures. The book will be best shared one on one or in very small groups, when children can really spend time examining the pictures and talking about their own impression of what is happening in each picture. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A mixed bag. (word list) (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Sept. 14, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-20519-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
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