by Judy Schachner ; illustrated by Judy Schachner ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 5, 2017
A specious attempt to present an inclusive view of the self-expression of creative children.
Sarabella is a quiet and contemplative young girl who doesn’t always choose to verbalize her thoughts.
Within her family, Sarabella’s parents and older sister are all creatives of various stripes. (All are pale-skinned; Sarabella and her father have black hair, while her mother and sister have brown.) They love and understand Sarabella as she is. However, at school, her teacher is concerned. He feels that Sarabella should daydream less and articulate more. He assigns the class a project in which students draw their favorite thoughts. This inspires Sarabella to share her ideas in a novel way that is truly fitting for her. Visually, the book is often quite stunning, with Sarabella’s thoughts sweeping across the pages as colorful and multitextured collages of images and words. However, the story’s message that creative children may express themselves differently than others is dampened by its presentation as a problem to be solved. Sarabella sometimes needs extra time to complete her assignments, but her meandering mind doesn’t seem to be negatively affecting her learning or her ability to connect with others. This makes her teacher’s concern come across as simply a desire for conformity in the classroom. Additionally, when Sarabella stays up all night to complete her assignment, her effort reads more as a response to pressure than a truly joyful inspiration.
A specious attempt to present an inclusive view of the self-expression of creative children. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-525-42918-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: June 13, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
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by Maribeth Boelts ; illustrated by Noah Z. Jones ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 4, 2016
Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on...
Continuing from their acclaimed Those Shoes (2007), Boelts and Jones entwine conversations on money, motives, and morality.
This second collaboration between author and illustrator is set within an urban multicultural streetscape, where brown-skinned protagonist Ruben wishes for a bike like his friend Sergio’s. He wishes, but Ruben knows too well the pressure his family feels to prioritize the essentials. While Sergio buys a pack of football cards from Sonny’s Grocery, Ruben must buy the bread his mom wants. A familiar lady drops what Ruben believes to be a $1 bill, but picking it up, to his shock, he discovers $100! Is this Ruben’s chance to get himself the bike of his dreams? In a fateful twist, Ruben loses track of the C-note and is sent into a panic. After finally finding it nestled deep in a backpack pocket, he comes to a sense of moral clarity: “I remember how it was for me when that money that was hers—then mine—was gone.” When he returns the bill to her, the lady offers Ruben her blessing, leaving him with double-dipped emotions, “happy and mixed up, full and empty.” Readers will be pleased that there’s no reward for Ruben’s choice of integrity beyond the priceless love and warmth of a family’s care and pride.
Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on children. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6649-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
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by Andrea Beaty ; illustrated by David Roberts ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 7, 2023
A much-needed reminder that kindness will always win out.
Teachers influence children profoundly.
From earliest childhood, Lila Greer, the youngest of five in a single-dad household, has been a worrier. Then the family moves. Entering second grade feels overwhelming: Nothing’s familiar, and she has no friends. But Ms. Kern, Lila’s new teacher, invites Lila to erase the chalkboard at recess and to articulate her fears. It helps that someone listens. Soon, classmates get into the act, and lonely Lila makes friends, emerges from her shell, and learns that “what ifs” have positive sides. Lila grows up, still fretting sometimes, and then becomes a new teacher who worries upon meeting her own students. But then she remembers the teacher who helped her overcome her fears and doubts years earlier. What was that marvelous, ineffable quality Ms. Kern possessed? Then Lila remembers: It was kindness! Harnessing that memory, Lila now welcomes her own “smiling young faces.” This is a sweet story that emphasizes good cheer, helpfulness, and the importance of feeling welcome and heard, no matter who you are: terrific messages, expressed in bouncy verses that scan well. The illustrations are colorfully lively. Readers will appreciate occasional displays of humorous and quirky typesetting creativity and will admire Lila’s poufy topknot, which resembles a huge ball of yarn. Lila is light-skinned, Ms. Kern is tan-skinned, and other characters are diverse.
A much-needed reminder that kindness will always win out. (author’s note) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9781419769047
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
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