A thoughtful protagonist makes his series debut; sports lovers and the athletic-averse alike will be charmed.
A first-time ice skater frets about an upcoming field trip to the rink.
When Miles’ friend RJ bets that Miles can’t skate without falling, Miles reluctantly accepts the challenge. After school, Miles learns that his nana, who lives with his family, was an ice skater when she was young; she tells him that though, as a Black woman, she didn’t see many skaters who looked like her on TV, she wanted to change that. At dinner, his father, a Black history professor, tells Miles about Willie O’Ree, the first Black man to enter the National Hockey League, and Miles researches O’Ree online. But soon Miles’ world begins to spiral out of control—a rift grows between him and RJ over the bet, and when he sees flyers for luxury apartments for seniors, he fears that Nana is thinking of moving. Readers of Lyons’ Jada Jones books will recognize her friend Miles in this new series spinoff. Miles is a smart, sensitive character in an all-too-relatable scenario: navigating friendship and learning to speak up for himself. Miles’ tightknit, multigenerational family exudes warmth, and Lyons deftly folds in information on a little-discussed but important Black trailblazing athlete. Bringing to life the text are black-and-white illustrations with pops of blue. Miles and his family are Black.
A thoughtful protagonist makes his series debut; sports lovers and the athletic-averse alike will be charmed. (biographical information about Willie O’Ree) (Chapter book. 6-8)Pub Date: July 19, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-38349-0
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends
Gerald the elephant learns a truth familiar to every preschooler—heck, every human: “Waiting is not easy!”
When Piggie cartwheels up to Gerald announcing that she has a surprise for him, Gerald is less than pleased to learn that the “surprise is a surprise.” Gerald pumps Piggie for information (it’s big, it’s pretty, and they can share it), but Piggie holds fast on this basic principle: Gerald will have to wait. Gerald lets out an almighty “GROAN!” Variations on this basic exchange occur throughout the day; Gerald pleads, Piggie insists they must wait; Gerald groans. As the day turns to twilight (signaled by the backgrounds that darken from mauve to gray to charcoal), Gerald gets grumpy. “WE HAVE WASTED THE WHOLE DAY!…And for WHAT!?” Piggie then gestures up to the Milky Way, which an awed Gerald acknowledges “was worth the wait.” Willems relies even more than usual on the slightest of changes in posture, layout and typography, as two waiting figures can’t help but be pretty static. At one point, Piggie assumes the lotus position, infuriating Gerald. Most amusingly, Gerald’s elephantine groans assume weighty physicality in spread-filling speech bubbles that knock Piggie to the ground. And the spectacular, photo-collaged images of the Milky Way that dwarf the two friends makes it clear that it was indeed worth the wait.
A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends . (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4231-9957-1
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Inspiration, shrink wrapped.
From an artist, poet, and Instagram celebrity, a pep talk for all who question where a new road might lead.
Opening by asking readers, “Have you ever wanted to go in a different direction,” the unnamed narrator describes having such a feeling and then witnessing the appearance of a new road “almost as if it were magic.” “Where do you lead?” the narrator asks. The Road’s twice-iterated response—“Be a leader and find out”—bookends a dialogue in which a traveler’s anxieties are answered by platitudes. “What if I fall?” worries the narrator in a stylized, faux hand-lettered type Wade’s Instagram followers will recognize. The Road’s dialogue and the narration are set in a chunky, sans-serif type with no quotation marks, so the one flows into the other confusingly. “Everyone falls at some point, said the Road. / But I will always be there when you land.” Narrator: “What if the world around us is filled with hate?” Road: “Lead it to love.” Narrator: “What if I feel stuck?” Road: “Keep going.” De Moyencourt illustrates this colloquy with luminous scenes of a small, brown-skinned child, face turned away from viewers so all they see is a mop of blond curls. The child steps into an urban mural, walks along a winding country road through broad rural landscapes and scary woods, climbs a rugged metaphorical mountain, then comes to stand at last, Little Prince–like, on a tiny blue and green planet. Wade’s closing claim that her message isn’t meant just for children is likely superfluous…in fact, forget the just.
Inspiration, shrink wrapped. (Picture book. 6-8, adult)Pub Date: March 23, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-26949-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: April 7, 2021
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