Pack your bags and prepare to fly.
Alvin Ho is at it again. Allergic to everything and all things girly, this 7-1/2-year-old worrywart hops a continent to visit relatives in Beijing. Is China ready for Alvin?
The hilarious family vacation kicks off with an airport-security bang. Only Alvin can manage to set off alarms both on and off the plane, with his family of six in tow, including his baby sister (amusingly referred to in fish terms). Once in Beijing, Alvin meets his aunt Aiyi, uncle Jonathan (who looks “plain,” not “Chinese at all”), and cousins Katie and Bean Sprout. The family zips off to such sights as the Great Wall of China and the Forbidden City, where dragons, “Peeking” duck and an encounter with a pit toilet go hand in hand. Amid his navigation of culture shock, Alvin becomes consumed with guilt over his dad’s lost passport and his rejection of an orphan’s wish for a friend. The way Look channels this adorable fraidy-cat continues to delight in this sixth Alvin book. Her lightning-quick dialogue sets the ideal tone and pace for reluctant travelers. Rendered in ink, Pham’s illustrations convey the family’s emotions, from anxiety to bliss, with simple, lively expressions. And around all the mayhem, there lies a story full of heart as big as China, where friendships (even with a girl) reach far beyond great walls.
Pack your bags and prepare to fly. (glossary) (Fiction. 6-10)Pub Date: Aug. 5, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-385-36972-5
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: April 29, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2014
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
A delightful, thoughtful escape to a magical world.
A mysterious hotel guest tells stories to a maid’s child.
It’s been a long time since the last letter arrived from Marta’s soldier father; without him, Marta and her mother have landed in the attic room of the Hotel Balzaar, where her mother works as a maid and Marta must be always unobtrusive. But when a flamboyant elderly countess with a parrot arrives, the new guest spots Marta right away and insists the child come to her room to hear stories. The stories enchant and frustrate Marta in equal turns, being both compelling and ending in places that leave her unsatisfied. But the stories also seem interconnected in ways that inspire Marta to examine them for deeper meaning. Pieces of the fablelike stories relate to Marta—especially to her father. Marta’s holding out in her belief that he will return to them one day, and she finds the more magical takes on reality offered by the countess’s stories reassuring in the face of her life’s ambiguities. Readers, too, will enjoy piecing together the connections among the stories and will be encouraged to seek deeper truths about people and the world around them. The vintage, baroque artwork features bold, confident lines that capture the timelessness of both Marta’s story and the countess’s tales. Characters present white.
A delightful, thoughtful escape to a magical world. (Fantasy. 7-10)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781536223316
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2024
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