An educational tale that may help kids understand the feelings of transgender people.
A colorful picture book about a gentle dragon that addresses transgender concepts.
Horus the dragon lives in a village, where he takes care of kittens at the animal shelter and sings in his church choir. Horus also has a deep, secret sadness. As a boy dragon, he can breathe fire, but he longs to have beautiful wings and other things that are only part of a girl dragon’s life. For many years, Horus buries his true self and cries alone in his bungalow, until one Sunday, when a beautiful dragon with rainbow wings speaks at his church. Horus learns that he isn’t alone in feeling that his body isn’t quite right for him, and he finally gets wings and becomes Harriet, the female dragon that she was always meant to be. Horus/Harriet is an appealing, stereotype-busting character and debut author/illustrator Stefaniuk-Gaudet’s images are effective, with bright colors and engaging details. At times, the book’s language gets a bit complex for kids: “They were talking about exciting new 3D printing technology that could potentially help little boy dragons grow up into lady dragons.” Overall, however, it fulfills its promise as a good place to begin a discussion of transgender identity with youngsters.
An educational tale that may help kids understand the feelings of transgender people.Pub Date: Oct. 19, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5255-1090-8
Page Count: 33
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
What if the market was closed when you wanted to bake a pie? You could embark for Europe, learn Italian en route, and pick up some semolina wheat in Italy, an egg in France, kurundu bark for cinnamon in Sri Lanka, and an entire cow in England (butter) before coming home via Jamaica (sugar) and Vermont (apples). The expertly designed illustrations in which a dark-haired lass journeys by various means to these interesting places to get her groceries are lovely and lively, and the narrative, too, travels at a spritely pace. The journey is neither quite logical enough to be truly informative nor quite bizarre enough to be satisfyingly silly, while the rich, sweet recipe that's appended will take some adult assistance. Still, fun. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: May 2, 1994
ISBN: 0-679-83705-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1994
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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