A lovely, gently existential exploration.
A picture-book musing about growing up.
The innovative cover and frontmatter design with die cuts shaped like a crawling baby, a young child, and an older child will immediately catch readers’ eyes. The rhyming text endeavors to speak in universals about growth and development, and this effort is aided by depictions of diverse people with different skin colors and hair textures and colors at various life stages (though there’s little variation in body type and no inclusion of visible disability). Earlier stages are presented with babies, toddlers, and children engaged in concrete activities that signify their varied, increasing degrees of independence. Later scenes veer toward the metaphorical to represent adolescent, adult, and aged people’s respective states of being. For example, babies are depicted directly engaging with the natural world: “They stretch to feed the hungry ducks with food clutched in their hands— / with each and every passing day, their tiny world expands.” On the other hand, “Stranded on an island is a wild and restless teen— / unsure of their direction or what their future means.” The accompanying art depicts the teen on an island, which ushers in symbolic understanding since it strains credulity to take the scene as a literal, universal adolescent experience. Throughout, the illustrations are defined by a soft visual texture and subdued color palette that visually evokes the gentle text’s affirming tone.
A lovely, gently existential exploration. (Picture book. 5-10)Pub Date: March 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-68010-117-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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