Some readers will be left with questions and not much else. Still, this is a necessary reminder of young lives often unseen
Seven boys share a name but lead very different lives across the Americas in Luján and Carrer’s pensive picture book.
In Chile, 8-year-old Pablo’s father drills the rock deep down in the cold copper mines. His father returns home weary from the labor, and Pablo makes sure he doesn’t disturb his father’s rest. Meanwhile, another Pablo lives deep in the Amazon jungle in Ecuador with his mother, a fruit picker. When traveling musicians visit his village, Pablo and his mother savor the music. But the musicians depart too soon, and both mother and son cry out, “Don’t forget us!” The vignette ends, and readers move on to the next. Small peeks into the lives of these seven Pablos—including a Guyanese boy living in cramped quarters in New York and an Argentine boy finding refuge in Mexico from a military dictatorship—offer a quick, harrowing survey of a world of uncertainty, strife, and hope. Via Lethem's translation, Luján delineates these candid snapshots with care and respect, even if they are necessarily underdeveloped and unequipped to offer any relief. Likewise, Carrer’s graphite pictures depict indistinct people in fragmented landscapes amid bursts of yellow, giving them the feel of hazy dispatches from the margins. A gesture toward fellowship ends the narrative abruptly on a rosy note.
Some readers will be left with questions and not much else. Still, this is a necessary reminder of young lives often unseen . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: May 29, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-59270-253-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Enchanted Lion Books
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2018
An uplifting tale of family connection and self-discovery.
Drawing inspiration from her rescue dog Clyde, Emmy-winning actor Aniston tells the story of a pooch seeking his passion.
The Clyde family are a talented bunch of canines: Uncle Clydester adores surfing, Auntie Clydette digs for dinosaur bones, and Great-Grandma Cly-Clyde dances salsa. “Everyone [has] something that [makes] them stand out”—except for young Clydeo, who doesn’t feel special. Clydeo sets out to discover what he loves, guided by an optimistic mantra: “Take a bite out of life, I always say!” As he tries out various relatives’ hobbies, he asks for advice: How will he know when he’s found his “thing”? Grandpa Clyderton, the daredevil, says that his passion makes him “light up.” Second cousin Clydesto, who paints blindfolded, says that art makes his world brighter. Plucky, persistent Clydeo keeps searching. He finds answers while helping his mother cook for a big family meal. “Clydeo [feels] a warm feeling in his belly…He love[s] his family, and he love[s] cooking for them.” Clydeo’s notion of taking a bite out of life proves to be his thing—cooking. The alliteration of the family members’ names, their kernels of wisdom, and the book’s lovable protagonist make for a pleasurable, meaningful read. Jacob’s illustrations of big-eyed, expressive dogs exude charm and personality and make searching for one’s passion seem like utter joy.
An uplifting tale of family connection and self-discovery. (author’s note, photos) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9780063372368
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2024
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.
The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
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