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I LOVE ME

A good message, but one limited to the able-bodied.

This children’s picture book encourages kids to love their bodies and what they can do.

In a cartoon-bright playground filled with bees, squirrels, butterflies, and leafy trees, a group of large-eyed children romp. Each is special, “with lots of gifts” and an inner light that glows “bright and beautifully.” The children take turns saying what they love about themselves—eyes, nose, hands, mouth, ears, legs, feet, and knees—and why: because each part helps a child experience something wonderful. A nose “helps me breathe the fresh, clean air and summer breeze”; ears “help me hear my friends talking, far and near.” With “every part made perfectly,” each kid concludes, “I LOVE ME!” Space is provided for kids to write down what they love about themselves. Idonije (I Love Football, 2017, etc.) gives the book’s self-esteem concept a lot of breezy energy, helped by RF’s full-color, kinetic illustrations. Idonije’s verse mostly scans well, with a bouncy rhythm. It’s good, too, that Renzo pays attention to diversity, including black, Asian, and Caucasian children. It’s disappointing, though, that this body-focused tale doesn’t take disabled kids into account, whose ears, eyes, or limbs may not be “made” the same way, and who therefore may not recognize themselves in this book as deserving of self-love.

A good message, but one limited to the able-bodied.

Pub Date: April 28, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-946687-08-1

Page Count: 20

Publisher: ATHLiTACOMiCS

Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2017

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FAMILIES BELONG

A joyful celebration.

Families in a variety of configurations play, dance, and celebrate together.

The rhymed verse, based on a song from the Noodle Loaf children’s podcast, declares that “Families belong / Together like a puzzle / Different-sized people / One big snuggle.” The accompanying image shows an interracial couple of caregivers (one with brown skin and one pale) cuddling with a pajama-clad toddler with light brown skin and surrounded by two cats and a dog. Subsequent pages show a wide array of families with members of many different racial presentations engaging in bike and bus rides, indoor dance parties, and more. In some, readers see only one caregiver: a father or a grandparent, perhaps. One same-sex couple with two children in tow are expecting another child. Smart’s illustrations are playful and expressive, curating the most joyful moments of family life. The verse, punctuated by the word together, frequently set in oversized font, is gently inclusive at its best but may trip up readers with its irregular rhythms. The song that inspired the book can be found on the Noodle Loaf website.

A joyful celebration. (Board book. 1-3)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020

ISBN: 978-0-593-22276-8

Page Count: 24

Publisher: Rise x Penguin Workshop

Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2020

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OTIS

From the Otis series

Continuing to find inspiration in the work of Virginia Lee Burton, Munro Leaf and other illustrators of the past, Long (The Little Engine That Could, 2005) offers an aw-shucks friendship tale that features a small but hardworking tractor (“putt puff puttedy chuff”) with a Little Toot–style face and a big-eared young descendant of Ferdinand the bull who gets stuck in deep, gooey mud. After the big new yellow tractor, crowds of overalls-clad locals and a red fire engine all fail to pull her out, the little tractor (who had been left behind the barn to rust after the arrival of the new tractor) comes putt-puff-puttedy-chuff-ing down the hill to entice his terrified bovine buddy successfully back to dry ground. Short on internal logic but long on creamy scenes of calf and tractor either gamboling energetically with a gaggle of McCloskey-like geese through neutral-toned fields or resting peacefully in the shade of a gnarled tree (apple, not cork), the episode will certainly draw nostalgic adults. Considering the author’s track record and influences, it may find a welcome from younger audiences too. (Picture book. 5-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009

ISBN: 978-0-399-25248-8

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Philomel

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2009

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