Lighthearted, if somewhat meandering, adventures of a determined petsitter.
A girl navigates the workday stressors of being the new kid at school, running her own petsitting business, and becoming a teenager in Braband’s middle-grade chapter-book sequel.
Chicago-based Libby Lancaster is about to turn 13, and she’s nervous. Her estranged parents have recently reconciled, and she’ll start eighth grade in the fall as “the new kid” in a new school. The main constant in her life is her successful pet-sitting service for tenants in her family’s apartment building; it provides an outlet when her anxieties become overwhelming. Summer concludes with a surprise 13th birthday party, and then Libby begins middle school. Her teacher is delightfully quirky and has modern ideas about education (on Fridays, for instance, the students become the teachers). But as Libby’s school workload grows, so does her business, which includes caring for a cat that her vice principal secretly keeps in his office and a few additional dogs to walk at home. Although she starts the year with every intention of successfully juggling school, work, and her home life, she begins to struggle. The promise of a “new addition” to the family brings more excitement and trepidation—but it may not be the new pet that Libby’s hoping for. Libby’s story is upbeat and easygoing, with a sense of humor that often falls into dad-joke territory: “If just anyone speaks off the cuff, then they adlib. But when I do it, it’s ‘Ad-libbying.’” However, given her age, Libby’s naïveté regarding a new romance and her mother’s pregnancy is confounding. The adults in Libby’s world are often irresponsible, immature, and even borderline creepy, as in the case of an omnipresent building superintendent who gives Libby a clubhouse as a gift, which only she and he know how to access; this makes for uncomfortable reading at times. In addition, trivial matters sometimes bury important plot points, and a cliffhanger ending may leave readers feeling rudderless.
Lighthearted, if somewhat meandering, adventures of a determined petsitter.Pub Date: Dec. 19, 2024
ISBN: 9798890917959
Page Count: 162
Publisher: ReadersMagnet LLC
Review Posted Online: March 5, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
New parents of daughters will eat these up and perhaps pass on the lessons learned.
All the reasons why a daughter needs a mother.
Each spread features an adorable cartoon animal parent-child pair on the recto opposite a rhyming verse: “I’ll always support you in giving your all / in every endeavor, the big and the small, / and be there to catch you in case you should fall. / I hope you believe this is true.” A virtually identical book, Why a Daughter Needs a Dad, publishes simultaneously. Both address standing up for yourself and your values, laughing to ease troubles, being thankful, valuing friendship, persevering and dreaming big, being truthful, thinking through decisions, and being open to differences, among other topics. Though the sentiments/life lessons here and in the companion title are heartfelt and important, there are much better ways to deliver them. These books are likely to go right over children’s heads and developmental levels (especially with the rather advanced vocabulary); their parents are the more likely audience, and for them, the books provide some coaching in what kids need to hear. The two books are largely interchangeable, especially since there are so few references to mom or dad, but one spread in each book reverts to stereotype: Dad balances the two-wheeler, and mom helps with clothing and hair styles. Since the books are separate, it aids in customization for many families.
New parents of daughters will eat these up and perhaps pass on the lessons learned. (Picture book. 4-8, adult)Pub Date: May 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-6781-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2019
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