Six more exquisite fabrications in the author's familiar self-infatuated cadences. In "Moon Ribbon," the first, a Cinderella type is carried off on a river/ribbon woven from the gray hairs of her dead mother. . . with whom she then exchanges hearts in the form of rubies and crystal. Elsewhere an old couple who fashion a longed-for son of sticks and honey are taught a lesson by the Spirit of the Hive; another old woman who finds a tiny "rosechild" ("though she was neither widow nor wed") learns that what it needs to grow is her own love; just as platitudinously, a young man spends his life seeking "Somewhen"—to illustrate that it's the journey that matters; and the only spunky character—Viga, a sun-fearing prince's bride ("the two talked and kissed far into the night as befits a couple who are but newly wed")—loses him as a result of her iconoclasm. The last story, about a "Moon Child" born into a sun-worshipping society, is a smug and pointless fable of ignorance and persecution. Artificial as we found the elegance of The Girl Who Cried Flowers (1974), this is weaker and sillier.
Pub Date: July 14, 1976
ISBN: 0460068369
Page Count: 54
Publisher: T.Y. Crowell
Review Posted Online: May 12, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1976
This book offers a fine mirror for brown boys who aspire to write, but it’s also a great pro-literacy story for all children...
A positive tale of how a story can emerge organically from an inkling of an idea to an imaginative literary excursion—even at the hands of preliterate kids.
This story’s young, brown-skinned male protagonist admires his big sister, who loves to read and write “BIG words and (little) words, page after page.” But with just his “swirl after swirl. Squiggle after squiggle,” he thinks he can’t write a story. Like any good writing coach, his sister tells him: “Write what you KNOW.” Using letters and squiggles, he writes about a visit to the ocean, where he and his sister play soccer, see waves, and encounter a shark. His story looks like this: “I o U …. VvVVvv ^.” During show and tell at school, he shares his draft and gets feedback, which helps him finish the story. Lowery’s line drawings and use of frames and speech bubbles common in comics make this a lively story that keeps readers guessing. He paints the protagonist’s story in progress in pale green, bringing the child’s imagination to life. The story’s ending suggests a sequel—or several—that will perhaps illustrate the protagonist’s growth as both reader and writer.
This book offers a fine mirror for brown boys who aspire to write, but it’s also a great pro-literacy story for all children about brown kids who hold reading and writing in high regard. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-77138-016-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
Though this celebration of community is joyful, there just is not much here.
A sugary poem, very loosely based on the familiar song, lacks focus.
Using only the refrain from the original (“One love, one heart, let’s get together and feel all right!”), the reggae great’s daughter Cedella Marley sees this song as her “happy song” and adapts it for children. However, the adaptation robs it of life. After the opening lines, readers familiar with the original song (or the tourism advertisement for Jamaica) will be humming along only to be stopped by the bland lines that follow: “One love, what the flower gives the bee.” and then “One love, what Mother Earth gives the tree.” Brantley-Newton’s sunny illustrations perfectly reflect the saccharine quality of the text. Starting at the beginning of the day, readers see a little girl first in bed, under a photograph of Bob Marley, the sun streaming into her room, a bird at the window. Each spread is completely redundant—when the text is about family love, the illustration actually shows little hearts floating from her parents to the little girl. An image of a diverse group getting ready to plant a community garden, walking on top of a river accompanies the words “One love, like the river runs to the sea.”
Though this celebration of community is joyful, there just is not much here. (afterword) (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4521-0224-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
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