by Julia Cook ; illustrated by Anita DuFalla ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2017
An important topic that warrants further exploration—and deserves better execution.
A girl learns about her “technology tail,” or digital footprint.
The lesson is delivered by a preteen’s laptop screen that suddenly comes to life and starts speaking, telling the child (who has light brown skin and straight brown hair) about how online activities can follow users and influence the way people think about them. Understandably, much of the focus is on refraining from posting mean things online and being aware of others’ feelings, but there are also lessons on safety and security. It all boils down to a didactic lesson, taught in very uneven prose—the screen frequently speaks in verse with an abcb rhyming pattern but just as frequently doesn’t, and there’s no real rhyme or reason as to why it drops in and out of verse. Occasional moments feel more like curriculum bullet points than parts of a cohesive whole, such as a brief definition of “keyboard courage” (saying things online that a person would never say out loud) and running all posts through a “think” test (THINK corresponding to True, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary, and Kind). At other points, concerns expressed feel older than those a rhyming picture book’s audience would share. Aside from mismatches between content and delivery, the disproportionate art style, featuring characters (of many races) with oversized caricature heads, further obfuscates the characters’ ages.
An important topic that warrants further exploration—and deserves better execution. (Picture book. 6-12)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-944882-13-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Boys Town Press
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
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by Julia Cook & Garrett Gunderson ; illustrated by Josh Cleland
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by E.B. White illustrated by Garth Williams ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 15, 1952
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
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by E.B. White & illustrated by Maggie Kneen
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by E.B. White illustrated by Fred Marcellino
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by E.B. White illustrated by Garth Williams
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PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
by Katherine Applegate ; illustrated by Patricia Castelao ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 2, 2023
Certain to steal hearts.
In this follow-up to 2020’s The One and Only Bob, Ruby the elephant is still living at Wildworld Zoological Park and Sanctuary.
She’s apprehensive about her Tuskday, a rite of passage for young elephants when she’ll give a speech in front of the rest of the herd. Luckily, she can confide in her Uncle Ivan, who is next door in Gorilla World, and Uncle Bob, the dog who lives nearby with human friend Julia. Ruby was born in an unspecified part of Africa, later ending up on display in the mall, where she met Ivan, Bob, and Julia. The unexpected arrival of someone from Ruby’s past life on the savanna revives memories both warmly nostalgic and deeply traumatic. An elephant glossary and Castelao’s charming, illustrated guide to elephant body language help immerse readers in Ruby’s world. Goofy, playful, and mischievous Ruby is fully dimensional, as she has shown her bravery during the many hardships of her young life. Applegate deftly tempers themes of grief and loss with compassion and humor as Ruby finds her place in the herd. The author’s note touches on climate change, the illegal ivory trade, and conservation efforts, but the highly emotive framing of the story through the memories of a bewildered baby elephant emphasizes the impact of lines such as “ ‘in Africa,’ I say softly, ‘there were bad people,’ ” without offering readers a nuanced understanding of the broader context that drives poaching.
Certain to steal hearts. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9780063080089
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2023
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by Katherine Applegate ; illustrated by Patricia Castelao
by Katherine Applegate ; illustrated by Patricia Castelao
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by Katherine Applegate & Gennifer Choldenko ; illustrated by Wallace West
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