Stepping out of the shadows: a gentle, persuasive #ownvoices take on a hitherto-untold perspective.
A girl with 10 brothers claims her place in both the family narrative and the world at large.
Amid a pastoral Taiwanese setting, this picture book opens with a male-centered viewpoint touting the super specialness of a family blessed with 10 sons, whom their parents call “little dumplings,” because dumplings are “auspicious, / Bringing prosperity and success.” (Dumplings’ oval shape intentionally resembles yuanbao—gold or silver ingots that were real currency in imperial China for over two millennia, a fact not, alas, shared in the author’s note. The brothers’ similar sizes also conjure the “Ten Brothers” legend in Chinese popular culture, which is.) Seemingly larger than life, these 10 brothers lack individuality when portrayed as a unit, doing “everything together” and becoming “ten fine men”—a desirable outcome that nonetheless hints at an in-group mentality that can marginalize those who do not conform. Readers need to look closely to find the girl Wume cleverly hides in each double-page spread: She dons the iconic school-uniform hat and is part of the action even when obscured. Then the perspective shifts: First writing herself into the story by forming 女 (female) with a calligraphy brush, she eventually, deftly reframes the narrative to assert: “I was there too.… // I listened. // I studied. // I learned.” Eventually, she becomes a mother and celebrates her personal fortune for having a “wonderful girl”—her very own “little dumpling.”(This book was reviewed digitally.)
Stepping out of the shadows: a gentle, persuasive #ownvoices take on a hitherto-untold perspective. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Jan. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7352-6619-3
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Tundra Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2021
PERSPECTIVES
A retro-futuristic romp, literally and figuratively screwy.
Robo-parents Diode and Lugnut present daughter Cathode with a new little brother—who requires, unfortunately, some assembly.
Arriving in pieces from some mechanistic version of Ikea, little Flange turns out to be a cute but complicated tyke who immediately falls apart…and then rockets uncontrollably about the room after an overconfident uncle tinkers with his basic design. As a squad of helpline techies and bevies of neighbors bearing sludge cake and like treats roll in, the cluttered and increasingly crowded scene deteriorates into madcap chaos—until at last Cath, with help from Roomba-like robodog Sprocket, stages an intervention by whisking the hapless new arrival off to a backyard workshop for a proper assembly and software update. “You’re such a good big sister!” warbles her frazzled mom. Wiesner’s robots display his characteristic clean lines and even hues but endearingly look like vaguely anthropomorphic piles of random jet-engine parts and old vacuum cleaners loosely connected by joints of armored cable. They roll hither and thither through neatly squared-off panels and pages in infectiously comical dismay. Even the end’s domestic tranquility lasts only until Cathode spots the little box buried in the bigger one’s packing material: “TWINS!” (This book was reviewed digitally with 9-by-22-inch double-page spreads viewed at 52% of actual size.)
A retro-futuristic romp, literally and figuratively screwy. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-544-98731-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: June 2, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2020
It’s good fun to see this vigorous, involved Grandma leading the fishing expedition.
An Inuit brother and sister learn to jig for fish with their anaanatsiaq.
The older brother narrates the plainly told story as he and Jeela, his younger sister, encourage their grandma to take them on “an adventure.” Their jolly “favorite elder” readily agrees and tells them about the layered clothing they will need. She gathers the tools for ice-fishing, and they all get into the large ATV for the ride to the lake. Along the way, they pass a dog sled and some inuksuit (stone markers). The entire process is carefully described, from testing the ice with a metal probe to making the hole with the tuuq (a chisel), removing the pieces of ice from the hole with an ice skimmer (a large spoon with holes), and tying the shiny colorful lures to fishing line attached to flat wooden planks, or jigging sticks. The digital pictures have an animation aesthetic and show a happy family of contemporary Inuit practicing a skill used by their ancestors. The children share their catch with many elders in the community who can no longer fish. Nothing dramatic happens, and Grandma gets a little preachy (“It is important to learn traditional skills and know how to be prepared”), but it’s clear this trio has had a splendid time.
It’s good fun to see this vigorous, involved Grandma leading the fishing expedition. (list of tools, glossary) (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: June 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-77227-084-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Inhabit Media
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
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