A deeply felt examination of grief.
A girl struggles to understand her grief in this British import and picture-book debut for artist Perkin.
After a visit to her mother in the hospital comes a life-changing call the next morning: “She’s gone.” There’s a funeral and many condolences. The girl finds herself unable to concentrate and feels detached from the world, her father telling her that it is grief she is experiencing. Perkin writes matter-of-factly about struggling with the loss of a parent. There’s no condescension to child readers; she respects their ability to understand, telling the story with a refreshing candor from the girl’s point of view: “Everyone would say, ‘I’m so sorry.’ But it wasn’t their fault,” the girl muses. Finding one of her mother’s sweaters, which retains her mother’s scent, the girl wears it often. Her sensitive father helps her comprehend the enormity of her feelings with the use of an apt and poignant simile, explaining that her grief is like her mother’s sweater: It stays the same, but she will “eventually grow into it.” There is a fitting plaintiveness to Perkin’s stylized figures—she draws eyes simply with everyone appearing as if they are looking down—but smiles grow as times passes and the girl and her father come to understand their loss. The two are white; the family’s grieving friends include people of color and multiracial families.
A deeply felt examination of grief. (Picture book. 4-10)Pub Date: April 21, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-8028-5544-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Eerdmans
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
New parents of daughters will eat these up and perhaps pass on the lessons learned.
All the reasons why a daughter needs a mother.
Each spread features an adorable cartoon animal parent-child pair on the recto opposite a rhyming verse: “I’ll always support you in giving your all / in every endeavor, the big and the small, / and be there to catch you in case you should fall. / I hope you believe this is true.” A virtually identical book, Why a Daughter Needs a Dad, publishes simultaneously. Both address standing up for yourself and your values, laughing to ease troubles, being thankful, valuing friendship, persevering and dreaming big, being truthful, thinking through decisions, and being open to differences, among other topics. Though the sentiments/life lessons here and in the companion title are heartfelt and important, there are much better ways to deliver them. These books are likely to go right over children’s heads and developmental levels (especially with the rather advanced vocabulary); their parents are the more likely audience, and for them, the books provide some coaching in what kids need to hear. The two books are largely interchangeable, especially since there are so few references to mom or dad, but one spread in each book reverts to stereotype: Dad balances the two-wheeler, and mom helps with clothing and hair styles. Since the books are separate, it aids in customization for many families.
New parents of daughters will eat these up and perhaps pass on the lessons learned. (Picture book. 4-8, adult)Pub Date: May 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-6781-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2019
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
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