An action-packed story for young inventors with troubling gender treatment.
Letters written home from a futuristic camp record big doings.
Bold animation-style illustrations bring Camp C.R.E.A.T.E. and its Gadgets Galore Competition to life. One camper nicknamed Professor von Junk “gets an idea for a gadget so clever / that everyone wants to help put it together.” Everyone, that is, except the letter writer, who thinks “helping is nice, but I want to come up / with my own cool device.” Once the competition begins, the protagonist can’t even get into the crowded lab. Discouraged but resilient, the kid creates a separate lab and develops an invention that, sadly, seems only to work in reverse. But Professor von Junk’s invention has a major flaw, too, creating chaos. Luckily, the letter writer’s invention saves the day. On the final page, the victor is honored with the name Professor O’Toole. Readers might notice O’Toole’s stylized pigtails, but only by reading the jacket flap will readers confirm the narrator is a female named Trixie (O’Toole). Is this a subtle book about girl power? In the future, could scientific ability be viewed without regard to gender? Perhaps, but this story has only one other implied female camper (a ponytailed kid named Lovelace) plus stereotypical references to Trixie’s “cute little cabin” and glitter-decorated invention. Bafflingly, the rhyming text is not consistently set as such. All the campers are green humanoid children.
An action-packed story for young inventors with troubling gender treatment. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-19511-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Imprint
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on...
Continuing from their acclaimed Those Shoes (2007), Boelts and Jones entwine conversations on money, motives, and morality.
This second collaboration between author and illustrator is set within an urban multicultural streetscape, where brown-skinned protagonist Ruben wishes for a bike like his friend Sergio’s. He wishes, but Ruben knows too well the pressure his family feels to prioritize the essentials. While Sergio buys a pack of football cards from Sonny’s Grocery, Ruben must buy the bread his mom wants. A familiar lady drops what Ruben believes to be a $1 bill, but picking it up, to his shock, he discovers $100! Is this Ruben’s chance to get himself the bike of his dreams? In a fateful twist, Ruben loses track of the C-note and is sent into a panic. After finally finding it nestled deep in a backpack pocket, he comes to a sense of moral clarity: “I remember how it was for me when that money that was hers—then mine—was gone.” When he returns the bill to her, the lady offers Ruben her blessing, leaving him with double-dipped emotions, “happy and mixed up, full and empty.” Readers will be pleased that there’s no reward for Ruben’s choice of integrity beyond the priceless love and warmth of a family’s care and pride.
Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on children. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6649-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
Another quirky take on the series theme that it’s cool to be kind.
The cool beans again step up to do a timorous fellow legume a fava…this time at the pool.
Will a rash decision to tackle the multistory super-slide lead to another embarrassing watery fail for our shy protagonist? Nope, for up the stairs right behind comes a trio of cool beans, each a different type and color, all clad in nothing but dark shades. They make an offer: “It’s not as scary if you go with friends!” As the knobby nerd explains once the thrilling ride down is done, “They all realized that I just needed some encouragement and support.” Just to make sure that both cool and uncool readers get the message, the narrator lets us know that “there are plenty of kind folks who have my back. They’re always there when I need them.” The beany bonhomie doesn’t end at the bottom of the slide, with all gliding down to the shallow end of the pool (“3 INCHES. NO DIVING”) for a splashy finale. This latest early reader starring characters from John and Oswald’s immensely popular Food Group series will be a hit with fans. Fun accessories, such as a bean who rocks pink cat-eye frames, add some pizzazz to the chromatically and somatotypically varied cast.
Another quirky take on the series theme that it’s cool to be kind. (Easy reader. 5-7)Pub Date: March 26, 2024
ISBN: 9780063329560
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
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