A straightforward, if perhaps overly simple, early chapter book about middle childhood.
A young girl examines her role as a middle child on a trip to the beach with her chaotic family in Prior’s novel for young readers.
Emma isn’t big, and she isn’t little: She’s right in the middle, with two brothers, one older and one younger. When she and her family go on vacation to the beach, Emma decides she’s no longer interested in squishing between her siblings in the car with none of the privileges of her older brother, nicknamed Big, and none of the coddling of her younger brother, known as Little. No, Emma is going to be big simply by acting as if she’s grown up, even if it means abandoning her best friend and fellow middle child, Wes the Best, while on vacation. She puts on lipstick and speaks like adults she’s seen on TV, but her mature act ends in disaster. Next, Emma tries a new tack and decides to pretend to be little instead; that doesn’t go according to plan either. Emma is at a loss as to what she should do next when assistance with her “dilEmma” comes from an unexpected corner. The solution is fairly simple and predictable, but it teaches a valuable lesson about embracing one’s personality and learning to appreciate what makes one unique, and it holds together well. That said, the story could have used some fleshing out, as its length is awkwardly short for the presumed 6- or 7-year-old audience, who may already be gravitating toward longer books, such as the Jasmine Toguchi series by Debbi Michiko Florence or the JD the Kid Barberbooks by J. Dillard. Kissi’s full-color cover and black-and-white cartoonlike illustrations depict Emma and her family as Black.
A straightforward, if perhaps overly simple, early chapter book about middle childhood.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-1-947159-60-0
Page Count: 66
Publisher: One Elm Books
Review Posted Online: May 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Lovely and evocative, just the thing to spark an interest in the original and its sequels—and the upcoming film sequel, Mary...
Refined, spit-spot–tidy illustrations infuse a spare adaptation of the 1934 classic with proper senses of decorum and wonder.
Novesky leaves out much—the Bird Woman, Adm. Boom, that ethnically problematic world tour, even Mr. and Mrs. Banks—but there’s still plenty going on. Mary Poppins introduces Jane and Michael (their twin younger sibs are mentioned but seem to be left at home throughout) to the Match-Man and the buoyant Mr. Wigg, lets them watch Mrs. Corry and her daughters climb tall ladders to spangle the night sky with gilt stars, and takes them to meet the zoo animals (“Bird and beast, star and stone—we are all one,” says the philosophical bear). At last, when the wind changes, she leaves them with an “Au revoir!” (“Which means, Dear Reader, ‘to meet again.’ ”) Slender and correct, though with dangling forelocks that echo and suggest the sweeping curls of wind that bring her in and carry her away, Mary Poppins takes the role of impresario in Godbout’s theatrically composed scenes, bearing an enigmatic smile throughout but sharing with Jane and Michael (and even the parrot-headed umbrella) an expression of wide-eyed, alert interest as she shepherds them from one marvelous encounter to the next. The Corrys have brown skin; the rest of the cast presents white.
Lovely and evocative, just the thing to spark an interest in the original and its sequels—and the upcoming film sequel, Mary Poppins Returns, which opens in December 2018. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Oct. 23, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-328-91677-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
A heartfelt forward pass from one generation to the next (and the next).
A pigskin-themed paean to family and family traditions.
As images depict a football-shaped newborn growing up, marrying, and helping to produce another—the second actually dressed in a football onesie, which is adorable—sports podcaster Holloway notes rookie season fumbles and triumphs, team huddles on the sofa to watch the big games, the passage of quarters and seasons, and major life events (like the wedding: “One day you may get drafted / To a franchise of your own”). All the while, Holloway promises to cheer from the sidelines in victory or defeat, to be there when needed, and to give each “wonderful expansion / of our football family” both a welcome and proper coaching. The family in Jang’s shiny, reasonably realistic illustrations includes three children. The verse’s language is nonspecific enough to apply to offspring of any gender as well as adoptees. In school settings and on playing fields of several sorts, the child, at various ages, light-skinned like their parents, joins a diverse group of peers, including one wearing a hijab and another who uses a hearing aid, while the child’s own family includes a dark-skinned sibling and, by the end, a child with, like their spouse, Asian features. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A heartfelt forward pass from one generation to the next (and the next). (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-84715-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
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