Imported from India, a hopeful narrative with expressive illustrations.
An imaginative transgender girl with the heart of a fairy puts on her sister’s Diwali frock to express herself and show her family who she is.
The youngest and favorite child, Guthli feels special when her mother calls her sonchiriya, her golden bird. She spends her time playing in the Satpura hills of central India, drawing fairies, swinging, and biking everywhere. For Diwali, everyone in her family wears new clothes, but Guthli wants a frilly frock like her sister’s. When she tries on her sister’s outfit, her parents, brother, and sister do not understand, but no matter what they say, Guthli knows she is a girl and a fairy. Shashi’s bright, painted-collage illustrations depict Guthli and her family with a range of brown skin tones, from her brother with golden brown skin to her father with dark brown skin. Colorful birds accompany Guthli in each scene except one, accentuating her loneliness after her family’s rejection. The text focuses on Guthli’s feelings and perspective, using the pronoun she even before anyone else supports her. Unfortunately, the narration includes the phrase “born with a boy’s body” to explain Guthli’s identity near the end. However, the central familial conflict resolves with the beginnings of acceptance from Guthli’s mother, who sees her pain, and a renewed celebration. This coming-out story creates opportunities for cultural identification along with feelings-affirming conversations about gender and autonomy. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Imported from India, a hopeful narrative with expressive illustrations. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-93-86667-94-6
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Tulika/Trafalgar
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2021
This bunny escapes all the traps but fails to find a logical plot or an emotional connection with readers.
The bestselling series (How to Catch an Elf, 2016, etc.) about capturing mythical creatures continues with a story about various ways to catch the Easter Bunny as it makes its annual deliveries.
The bunny narrates its own story in rhyming text, beginning with an introduction at its office in a manufacturing facility that creates Easter eggs and candy. The rabbit then abruptly takes off on its delivery route with a tiny basket of eggs strapped to its back, immediately encountering a trap with carrots and a box propped up with a stick. The narrative focuses on how the Easter Bunny avoids increasingly complex traps set up to catch him with no explanation as to who has set the traps or why. These traps include an underground tunnel, a fluorescent dance floor with a hidden pit of carrots, a robot bunny, pirates on an island, and a cannon that shoots candy fish, as well as some sort of locked, hazardous site with radiation danger. Readers of previous books in the series will understand the premise, but others will be confused by the rabbit’s frenetic escapades. Cartoon-style illustrations have a 1960s vibe, with a slightly scary, bow-tied bunny with chartreuse eyes and a glowing palette of neon shades that shout for attention.
This bunny escapes all the traps but fails to find a logical plot or an emotional connection with readers. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-3817-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.
Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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