A heartfelt, earnest, useful book with some rough edges.
A classroom story about how mindfulness can bring happiness to others and oneself.
Written by a mindfulness educator, this picture book provides readers with a glimpse into a school where teacher Ms. Snowden guides her pupils in mindfulness and “Heartfulness” exercises. She asks them to imagine someone who makes them happy and then to think the words “May you be happy. May you be healthy and strong. May you be peaceful,” and to reflect on how this makes them feel. While the other kids each identify a person, the eponymous Henry imagines his Rubik’s Cube. Ms. Snowden accepts this choice in stride, and she’s later supportive when Henry has difficulty thinking of anything he’s done to share in the class’s “Kindness Project.” His classmates, a diverse group (both Henry and Ms. Snowden appear black), make pictures to represent their own kind acts, but for some reason, Henry can’t come up with anything. His peers kindly remind him of kindnesses he’s performed in their lives, and Henry participates, though the book never explains why he at first had difficulty. Throughout, Malone’s line illustrations show promise in characterization and expressiveness, but the text is wordy (especially at the beginning), and the interaction of art and text within the layout is not always smooth.
A heartfelt, earnest, useful book with some rough edges. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-88448-661-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tilbury House
Review Posted Online: July 29, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on...
Continuing from their acclaimed Those Shoes (2007), Boelts and Jones entwine conversations on money, motives, and morality.
This second collaboration between author and illustrator is set within an urban multicultural streetscape, where brown-skinned protagonist Ruben wishes for a bike like his friend Sergio’s. He wishes, but Ruben knows too well the pressure his family feels to prioritize the essentials. While Sergio buys a pack of football cards from Sonny’s Grocery, Ruben must buy the bread his mom wants. A familiar lady drops what Ruben believes to be a $1 bill, but picking it up, to his shock, he discovers $100! Is this Ruben’s chance to get himself the bike of his dreams? In a fateful twist, Ruben loses track of the C-note and is sent into a panic. After finally finding it nestled deep in a backpack pocket, he comes to a sense of moral clarity: “I remember how it was for me when that money that was hers—then mine—was gone.” When he returns the bill to her, the lady offers Ruben her blessing, leaving him with double-dipped emotions, “happy and mixed up, full and empty.” Readers will be pleased that there’s no reward for Ruben’s choice of integrity beyond the priceless love and warmth of a family’s care and pride.
Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on children. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6649-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
Another quirky take on the series theme that it’s cool to be kind.
The cool beans again step up to do a timorous fellow legume a fava…this time at the pool.
Will a rash decision to tackle the multistory super-slide lead to another embarrassing watery fail for our shy protagonist? Nope, for up the stairs right behind comes a trio of cool beans, each a different type and color, all clad in nothing but dark shades. They make an offer: “It’s not as scary if you go with friends!” As the knobby nerd explains once the thrilling ride down is done, “They all realized that I just needed some encouragement and support.” Just to make sure that both cool and uncool readers get the message, the narrator lets us know that “there are plenty of kind folks who have my back. They’re always there when I need them.” The beany bonhomie doesn’t end at the bottom of the slide, with all gliding down to the shallow end of the pool (“3 INCHES. NO DIVING”) for a splashy finale. This latest early reader starring characters from John and Oswald’s immensely popular Food Group series will be a hit with fans. Fun accessories, such as a bean who rocks pink cat-eye frames, add some pizzazz to the chromatically and somatotypically varied cast.
Another quirky take on the series theme that it’s cool to be kind. (Easy reader. 5-7)Pub Date: March 26, 2024
ISBN: 9780063329560
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
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