A delightfully inclusive Purim tale.
A trans girl finds a much-needed mirror in a biblical queen.
Atara wears a crown everywhere she goes—in fact, her name even means crown. One day, her mom reads her a book about Purim, and Atara sees herself in Queen Esther; while Esther hid her Jewish identity, for a long time Atara never told her parents she was really a girl. Just as Esther’s crown made it clear that she was a queen, Atara’s crown gives her a sense of assurance about her identity. In drama class, Atara is even cast as Queen Esther in the Purim play. The show is a hit. But when Atara forgets her crown at home the next day, she must summon her inner confidence. The book’s full-color, pastel illustrations are reminiscent of newspaper comic strips, with rounded, squiggly lines. The dyslexia-friendly text appears separately from the images. Though the writing is purposeful and at times clunky, it’s wonderful to see a Purim story that centers a trans protagonist; many young people will identify with both Atara and Esther. The book has no endnotes about the holiday, so adults may want to pair this offering with an informational text. Atara and her mom have tan complexions and curly brown hair. Queen Esther has brown skin; the Persian King Ahasuerus is light-skinned.
A delightfully inclusive Purim tale. (reading recommendations, coloring activity) (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Jan. 19, 2025
ISBN: 9781805013068
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.
The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Fans of this popular series will find this a rewarding addition to family Easter celebrations.
Bergren and Bryant attempt to explain Easter to young children in a gentle, nonthreatening manner, with partial success.
When Little Cub questions her father about Easter, Papa Bear explains the religious significance of the holiday in various symbolic ways to his cub. He uses familiar things from their world, such as an egg and a fallen tree, to draw parallels with aspects of the Christian story. Papa Bear discusses his close relationships with Jesus and God, encouraging Little Cub to communicate with God on her own. The theme focuses on the renewal of life and the positive aspects of loving God and Jesus. Easter is presented as a celebration of eternal life, but the story skirts the issue of the crucifixion entirely. Some adults will find this an inadequate or even dishonest approach to the Easter story, but others will appreciate the calm and soothing text as a way to begin to understand a difficult subject. Bryant’s charming watercolor illustrations of the polar bear family, their cozy home and snowy forest scenes add to the overall mellow effect.
Fans of this popular series will find this a rewarding addition to family Easter celebrations. (Religion/picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 15, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-307-73072-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: WaterBrook
Review Posted Online: Dec. 11, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2013
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