Young ones will need a bit of hand-holding for this simplified explanation of the New Thought movement’s law of attraction.
Boucher nobly attempts to make a rather complicated idea accessible by breaking down the law of attraction into three steps: “[S]ee in your head what you want. Believe you already have it. Make believe! When you wake up say ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you!’ ” That sounds simple enough for adults to do, but this process is much more difficult for children to comprehend—especially for those in the age group that will be drawn to Boucher’s watercolor illustrations of multicultural kids. Though the main concept presents a challenge, the book expresses other lovely, self-affirming thoughts: the beauty of being unique, believing in yourself, disregarding hurtful words and dreaming big. Again, these are major ideas that children might not be able to navigate on their own. However, this title would be an interesting starting point for a group or one-on-one discussion, since the text highlights the main ideas, and an adult would be able to fill in the blanks. For example: “Thoughts have power. They become things.” Though adults know what Boucher is trying to suggest, this wording will likely be confusing—and possibly frightening—for a group of little ones who are used to “power” being in the hands of Disney villains or Marvel superheroes. How do thoughts become “things” exactly? That’s a question an adult reader must help the child answer. At the conclusion of the book, Boucher leaves kids with several tasks, several of which are self-explanatory, such as “Laugh out loud! Tell your best friend.” But she also urges readers to “Send this happiness around the World three times.” How can kids (or adults, for that matter) even begin to do that? Perhaps including a parent/educator note to guide adults in sharing this message with children would help clarify these issues, or maybe the message could be embedded in a fictional story rather than pedagogical text.
Though this colorful picture book has a lot of heart, busy adults may prefer to share a clearer, more straightforward message.
Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2014
ISBN: 978-1452591421
Page Count: 28
Publisher: BalboaPress
Review Posted Online: July 9, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The greening of Dr. Seuss, in an ecology fable with an obvious message but a savingly silly style. In the desolate land of the Lifted Lorax, an aged creature called the Once-ler tells a young visitor how he arrived long ago in the then glorious country and began manufacturing anomalous objects called Thneeds from "the bright-colored tufts of the Truffula Trees." Despite protests from the Lorax, a native "who speaks for the trees," he continues to chop down Truffulas until he drives away the Brown Bar-ba-loots who had fed on the Tuffula fruit, the Swomee-Swans who can't sing a note for the smogulous smoke, and the Humming-Fish who had hummed in the pond now glumped up with Gluppity-Glupp. As for the Once-let, "1 went right on biggering, selling more Thneeds./ And I biggered my money, which everyone needs" — until the last Truffula falls. But one seed is left, and the Once-let hands it to his listener, with a message from the Lorax: "UNLESS someone like you/ cares a whole awful lot,/ nothing is going to get better./ It's not." The spontaneous madness of the old Dr. Seuss is absent here, but so is the boredom he often induced (in parents, anyway) with one ridiculous invention after another. And if the Once-let doesn't match the Grinch for sheer irresistible cussedness, he is stealing a lot more than Christmas and his story just might induce a generation of six-year-olds to care a whole lot.
Pub Date: Aug. 12, 1971
ISBN: 0394823370
Page Count: 72
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Oct. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1971
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
