A creative youngster solves a field-trip problem in this picture book about valuing what makes a person unique.
A human child doesn’t know exactly why everyone calls them Meow: “Maybe it’s because I get bored easily,” they say, like a cat does. Meow’s snarky, unnamed feline thinks it might be because of Meow’s hat, which has catlike ears. Meow’s teacher, Ms. Snickety, believes that Meow doesn’t listen; “I just listen differently,” Meow explains. On a field trip to see wildlife, the teacher gives each child a banana to offer monkeys, who take every single banana—until Meow, who believes that “sharing is caring,” takes the fruit back in an epic chase and eventually uses a cannon to fire the fruit skyward so everyone can have one. Tills offers a celebration of kids whose brains work differently. Meow is coded as neurodivergent, though it’s never discussed in such terms; the idea that Meow approaches things differently than others do, though, comes through clearly. The author uses short sentences and accessible vocabulary in Meow’s first-person narration, which feel authentic. Saladrigas’ cartoon-style, full-color art perfectly matches the text’s whimsical tone, even incorporating an imagined duck and dinosaur into Meow’s adventure. The iconic yellow cat-hat adds an extra level of expression with changing ear positions.
An appealingly offbeat book with a strong message about appreciating unusual thinking.Pub Date: April 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-73670-048-8
Page Count: 44
Publisher: FDI Publishing LLC
Review Posted Online: Feb. 20, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Categories: CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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BOOK REVIEW
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
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A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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