An uplifting option for children curious about jumping from princess fairy tales to princess biographies.
An inspirational ode to princess power.
A trio of children explore the question “If you were a princess, what would you do?” Alongside the ideas introduced in the main text (“If you were a princess, you would be remembered for marvelous deeds”), Homzie offers tidbits, in a smaller font, about nearly 30 real princesses. The subjects are celebrated for their skills and strengths, from princesses who work to rescue and protect animals, such as Princess Alia of Jordan and Princess Stephanie of Monaco, to royals who defended their lands, including Princess Pingyang of the Tang dynasty in China and Princess Lakshmi Bai, who lived in the 19th century in what is now northern India. The jewel-toned illustrations show the children helping their community, energized by the mountain-climbing, rapping, law-practicing real-life princesses surrounding them. The book ends as it began, with a question: “How can you become a princess in your own way?” Like a BuzzFeed listicle in picture-book format, this title offers fiction-to-nonfiction–bridging potential that makes it an attractive gift for a princess-obsessed child. Backmatter includes short princess biographies. Featured princesses are from a wide range of countries and cultures throughout history, a diversity that is mirrored in the characters’ community. The main children include one with brown skin and brown curly hair; another who has light skin and long dark braids, who presents as Asian and who uses a prosthetic leg; and one with straight brown hair and light tan skin. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
An uplifting option for children curious about jumping from princess fairy tales to princess biographies. (works cited) (Informational picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5344-5617-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Sage, soothing ideas for a busy, loud, sometimes-divisive world.
In an inviting picture book, Chelsea and Hillary Clinton share personal revelations on how gardening with a grandmother, a mother, and children shapes and nurtures a love and respect for nature, beauty, and a general philosophy for life.
Grandma Dorothy, the former senator, secretary of state, and presidential candidate’s mother, loved gardens, appreciating the multiple benefits they yielded for herself and her family. The Clinton women reminisce about their beloved forebear and all she taught them in a color-coded, alternating text, blue for Chelsea and green for Hillary. Via brief yet explicit remembrances, they share what they learned, observed, and most of all enjoyed in gardens with her. Each double-page spread culminates in a declarative statement set in italicized red text invoking Dorothy’s wise words. Gardens can be many things: places for celebration, discovery and learning, vehicles for teaching responsibility in creating beauty, home to wildlife large and small, a place to share stories and develop memories. Though operating from very personal experience rooted in class privilege, the mother-daughter duo mostly succeeds in imparting a universally significant message: Whether visiting a public garden or working in the backyard, generations can cultivate a lasting bond. Lemniscates uses an appropriately floral palette to evoke the gardens explored by these three white women. A Spanish edition, Los jardines de la abuela, publishes simultaneously; Teresa Mlawer’s translation is fluid and pleasing, in at least one case improving on the original.
Sage, soothing ideas for a busy, loud, sometimes-divisive world. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: March 31, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-11535-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
An inspiring introduction to the young Nobel Peace Prize winner and a useful conversation starter.
The latest of many picture books about the young heroine from Pakistan, this one is narrated by Malala herself, with a frame that is accessible to young readers.
Malala introduces her story using a television show she used to watch about a boy with a magic pencil that he used to get himself and his friends out of trouble. Readers can easily follow Malala through her own discovery of troubles in her beloved home village, such as other children not attending school and soldiers taking over the village. Watercolor-and-ink illustrations give a strong sense of setting, while gold ink designs overlay Malala’s hopes onto her often dreary reality. The story makes clear Malala’s motivations for taking up the pen to tell the world about the hardships in her village and only alludes to the attempt on her life, with a black page (“the dangerous men tried to silence me. / But they failed”) and a hospital bracelet on her wrist the only hints of the harm that came to her. Crowds with signs join her call before she is shown giving her famous speech before the United Nations. Toward the end of the book, adult readers may need to help children understand Malala’s “work,” but the message of holding fast to courage and working together is powerful and clear.
An inspiring introduction to the young Nobel Peace Prize winner and a useful conversation starter. (Picture book/memoir. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 17, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-31957-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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