Get lost in the stars in this gorgeous tale of friendship and astronomy.
Stars and wishes intertwine in this celestial friendship tale.
Eridani, a human girl, loves to look up at the night sky to see and talk to her best friend, Acamar, a constellation of a boy. During the day, Eridani pores over sky maps and star plots as she works on celestial school projects. But studying the stars will never be the same as being up in the stars like Acamar. Eridani silently wishes she could trade her blood and bones for space and stars. At the same time, Acamar quietly yearns to feel his feet on the sand. The expertly paced, lyrical third-person narration creates an otherworldly atmosphere for this long-form picture book. The texts of the first and second halves of the story mirror each other, further highlighting the special connection between the friends. Illustrations are awash in textures, some splattered, some brushed, some drawn, visually expanding the ethereal world created by the text. The visual pacing of the illustrations contrasts spreads bursting with jewel-toned colors and exuberant movement with pages featuring speech-bubble dialogue spotlighted in a sea of black. As humans, the friends appear as children of color in a timeless setting; as constellations, their human silhouettes are filled in with shimmering blue, purple, and black, shot through with glittering stars. Readers will be thrilled to learn from the author’s note that Acamar really is a star within the constellation Eridanus, and Denos provides some resources for those who want to learn more.
Get lost in the stars in this gorgeous tale of friendship and astronomy. (Picture book. 5-10)Pub Date: Oct. 27, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-358-15395-5
Page Count: 64
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books.
Curious about the Big Wide World outside his Sasquatch community, Hugo makes a friend who is of it.
Sasquatch Hugo’s bedroom is inside a cave and possesses the charming feature of a small stream running through it that he can sail his little toy boat on. It’s cool, but he yearns to see the Big Wide World. When he asks his smart friend Gigi if a Sasquatch might become a sailor, she says it’s possible but would be difficult—the primary rule of their people is to not be seen by Humans. Then, in everyone’s favorite Hide and Go Sneak class, which is held outside, a Human appears; Hugo laughs at the sight, drawing Human attention in a taboo-breaking mistake. Shortly after, Hugo’s toy boat floats into the cave with a Human toy—soon, it’s facilitating a pen-pal–type relationship that’s derailed when Hugo confesses to being a Sasquatch and Human Boone, a budding cryptozoologist, doesn’t believe him. How Hugo and Boone resolve this misapprehension and become friends in a joint search for the Ogopogo concludes this series opener. Potter keeps the third-person narrative tightly focused on Hugo’s perspective, and the details she uses to flesh out the Sasquatch world are delightfully playful. Sala’s drawings depict a homey Sasquatch cavern community, Boone as a freckled, white boy, and Hugo as a hairily benevolent behemoth.
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books. (final art unseen) (Fantasy. 5-9)Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2859-4
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
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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