In this entry in the Easy-to-Read series, ebullient Amanda Pig (Oliver and Amanda and the Big Snow, 1995, etc.) discovers that independence can be scary. With new best friend Lollipop, Amanda spends a day playing at home, another outside with their toy “babies,” and another at Lollipop’s house, in her grand purple room. A sleepover takes an Edward-the-Unready turn (Edward’s Overwhelming Overnight, 1995) and Amanda phones home, with the wish to be in her own bed at night. Amanda’s neighborhood is filled with understanding and loving adults, while Schweninger’s colorful pastel illustrations reinforce the overall tone of warmth and predictability of the text. Van Leeuwen creates a comfortable world of safety and security in this feel-good, reassuring book. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: June 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-8037-1982-5
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1998
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This warm family story is a splendid showcase for the combined talents of Medina, a Pura Belpré award winner, and Dominguez,...
Abuela is coming to stay with Mia and her parents. But how will they communicate if Mia speaks little Spanish and Abuela, little English? Could it be that a parrot named Mango is the solution?
The measured, evocative text describes how Mia’s español is not good enough to tell Abuela the things a grandmother should know. And Abuela’s English is too poquito to tell Mia all the stories a granddaughter wants to hear. Mia sets out to teach her Abuela English. A red feather Abuela has brought with her to remind her of a wild parrot that roosted in her mango trees back home gives Mia an idea. She and her mother buy a parrot they name Mango. And as Abuela and Mia teach Mango, and each other, to speak both Spanish and English, their “mouths [fill] with things to say.” The accompanying illustrations are charmingly executed in ink, gouache, and marker, “with a sprinkling of digital magic.” They depict a cheery urban neighborhood and a comfortable, small apartment. Readers from multigenerational immigrant families will recognize the all-too-familiar language barrier. They will also cheer for the warm and loving relationship between Abuela and Mia, which is evident in both text and illustrations even as the characters struggle to understand each other. A Spanish-language edition, Mango, Abuela, y yo, gracefully translated by Teresa Mlawer, publishes simultaneously.
This warm family story is a splendid showcase for the combined talents of Medina, a Pura Belpré award winner, and Dominguez, an honoree. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6900-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This kind but snarky, winningly honest story about being a square peg is sure to appeal to misfits and queen bees alike.
A bespectacled naked mole rat stays true to her awkward self.
By human standards, Zuill’s anthropomorphized naked mole rats are all pretty weird-looking: unsettlingly humanlike; pinkish-white but with beady little eyes, pronounced snoots, and vacant smiles. It seems that there are hierarchies even among naked mole rats, however, and Sweety is somewhere toward the bottom. With Coke-bottle glasses and headgear over her buck teeth, Sweety “could be intense”; she loves mycology and interpretive dance, and she has a hard time making friends with the more popular naked mole rats. Refreshingly, this story doesn’t follow a “Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer” plot, in which deviance is only acceptable if it’s useful to others, nor is anyone particularly unkind to the strange mole-girl. Sweety’s aunt Ruth informs her that “being different was one of the best things about her life, and that if you stayed true to yourself, you’d find your people.” Sweety thinks a little about how to be more popular and considers different attention-getting tricks to find her people, but at the end she decides to “continue to do her favorite things, and be herself.” Hilarious, slightly (and appropriately) off-putting pen-and-ink sketches (with an especially delightful spot of some goth adolescent mole rats) perfectly illustrate Sweety’s uniqueness.
This kind but snarky, winningly honest story about being a square peg is sure to appeal to misfits and queen bees alike. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-525-58000-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
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