Next book

EXPRESSIONISTA

HOW TO EXPRESS YOUR TRUE SELF THROUGH (AND DESPITE) FASHION

These messages, combined with the limited but practical fashion advice, will help preteens feel prepared for their next...

For preteens confused by fashion and style, this informative guide will help introduce some basic concepts with a healthy dose of encouragement and self-discovery.

This lightweight work, filled with black-and-white illustrations, quotes from fashionable celebrities, quizzes and “real girl” stories, encourages readers to become Expressionistas, letting their personal appearances match their inner selves. This is achieved through Fashion Personas: “your personal identity as it relates to and is expressed through fashion, style and design.” Walker and McKuen identify only five Fashion Personas—Classic, Natural, Romantic, Dramatic and Trend Tracker—devoting a chapter to each persona. After determining their Fashion Personas, readers can learn about accessorizing, organizing their closets and how to shop for pieces to fit their personas. An epilogue gives a final pep talk for budding Expressionistas, followed by several appendices. Although some claims strain credulity (such as a better understanding of Fashion Personas leads to improved relationships with others), the positive messages will probably resonate with the target audience.

These messages, combined with the limited but practical fashion advice, will help preteens feel prepared for their next shopping trip. (Nonfiction. 8-12)

Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2013

ISBN: 978-1-58270-429-6

Page Count: 224

Publisher: Beyond Words/Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: June 15, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2013

Next book

COYOTE TALES

Though usually cast as the trickster, Coyote is more victim than victimizer, making this a nice complement to other Coyote...

Two republished tales by a Greco-Cherokee author feature both folkloric and modern elements as well as new illustrations.

One of the two has never been offered south of the (Canadian) border. In “Coyote Sings to the Moon,” the doo-wop hymn sung nightly by Old Woman and all the animals except tone-deaf Coyote isn’t enough to keep Moon from hiding out at the bottom of the lake—until she is finally driven forth by Coyote’s awful wailing. She has been trying to return to the lake ever since, but that piercing howl keeps her in the sky. In “Coyote’s New Suit” he is schooled in trickery by Raven, who convinces him to steal the pelts of all the other animals while they’re bathing, sends the bare animals to take clothes from the humans’ clothesline, and then sets the stage for a ruckus by suggesting that Coyote could make space in his overcrowded closet by having a yard sale. No violence ensues, but from then to now humans and animals have not spoken to one another. In Eggenschwiler’s monochrome scenes Coyote and the rest stand on hind legs and (when stripped bare) sport human limbs. Old Woman might be Native American; the only other completely human figure is a pale-skinned girl.

Though usually cast as the trickster, Coyote is more victim than victimizer, making this a nice complement to other Coyote tales. (Fiction. 9-11)

Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-55498-833-4

Page Count: 56

Publisher: Groundwood

Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017

Next book

WHO WANTS PIZZA?

THE KIDS' GUIDE TO THE HISTORY, SCIENCE & CULTURE OF FOOD

Starting with a lonely slice of pizza pictured on the cover and the first page, Thornhill launches into a wide-ranging study of the history and culture of food—where it comes from, how to eat it and what our food industries are doing to the planet. It’s a lot to hang on that slice of pizza, but there are plenty of interesting tidbits here, from Clarence Birdseye’s experiments with frozen food to how mad cow disease causes the brain to turn spongy to industrial food production and global warming. Unfortunately, the volume is designed like a bad high-school yearbook. Most pages are laid out in text boxes, each containing a paragraph on a discrete topic, but with little in the way of an organizing theme to tie together the content of the page or spread. Too many colors, too much jumbled-together information and total reliance on snippets of information make this a book for young readers more interested in browsing than reading. Kids at the upper edge of the book's range would be better served by Richie Chevat's adaptation of Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma (2009). (Nonfiction. 8-12)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2010

ISBN: 978-1-897349-96-0

Page Count: 64

Publisher: Maple Tree Press

Review Posted Online: July 1, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2010

Close Quickview