SMALL WORLD

Name: SMALL WORLD
Author: Ishta Mercurio
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3407-6

by Ishta Mercurio ; illustrated by Jen Corace ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 2, 2019

A thought-provoking and evocative book that may unfortunately fail to pique the interest of its target audience but may also...

bookshelf

A young girl discovers her world as she grows up.

Little Nanda’s world begins in her mother’s arms when she is a small baby. As she grows, her world expands too. From friends and family to new places and new discoveries, Nanda pushes the limits of her world as much as possible—until one day, she realizes her world is the same as it was when she was a baby in her mother’s arms: “safe, warm, small.” Rich, imaginative text paints a beautiful picture of Nanda’s life and generously weaves in figurative language (“It soared through a symphony of glass and stone. / It spooled through spirals of wire and foam”). It is also refreshing to see Nanda depicted as a strong South Asian girl protagonist who blends in and yet stands out. Unfortunately, some of the text and the broader underlying concept of the book—which takes her through college and beyond to a career as an astronaut—may be hard to grasp for the target preschool audience. Corace’s illustrations, created using gouache, ink, and acrylic, effortlessly show Nanda’s curiosity and the diverse world we all live in today. Attention to detail and authenticity in the illustrations is evident on each page.

A thought-provoking and evocative book that may unfortunately fail to pique the interest of its target audience but may also provide a fresh substitute for Oh, the Places You’ll Go come graduation season. (author’s note) (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: July 2, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-4197-3407-6

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Abrams

Review Posted Online: April 9, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2019

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

bookshelf

THE WATER PRINCESS

by Susan Verde ; illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 13, 2016

Though told by two outsiders to the culture, this timely and well-crafted story will educate readers on the preciousness of...

bookshelf

An international story tackles a serious global issue with Reynolds’ characteristic visual whimsy.

Gie Gie—aka Princess Gie Gie—lives with her parents in Burkina Faso. In her kingdom under “the African sky, so wild and so close,” she can tame wild dogs with her song and make grass sway, but despite grand attempts, she can neither bring the water closer to home nor make it clean. French words such as “maintenant!” (now!) and “maman” (mother) and local color like the karite tree and shea nuts place the story in a French-speaking African country. Every morning, Gie Gie and her mother perch rings of cloth and large clay pots on their heads and walk miles to the nearest well to fetch murky, brown water. The story is inspired by model Georgie Badiel, who founded the Georgie Badiel Foundation to make clean water accessible to West Africans. The details in Reynolds’ expressive illustrations highlight the beauty of the West African landscape and of Princess Gie Gie, with her cornrowed and beaded hair, but will also help readers understand that everyone needs clean water—from the children of Burkina Faso to the children of Flint, Michigan.

Though told by two outsiders to the culture, this timely and well-crafted story will educate readers on the preciousness of potable water. (Picture book. 5-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-399-17258-8

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Putnam

Review Posted Online: May 17, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

- BOOK REVIEW
ARE YOU LISTENING?
by Susan Verde ; illustrated by Juliana Perdomo

- BOOK REVIEW
WHO I AM
by Susan Verde ; illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds

- BOOK REVIEW
CAN YOU SEE IT?
by Susan Verde ; illustrated by Juliana Perdomo

bookshelf

ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

bookshelf

Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)