A personal, insightful look at a child’s exploration of family and identity.
A girl depicts her experiences as a donor-conceived child in this picture book.
Harvey, a White, red-haired child, was conceived with the help of a donor father. Her mother approached parenthood “Solo / With gusto” and was ecstatic when her daughter was born. Harvey and mom have a wonderful relationship, but the girl often thinks about her donor. She notices that she inherited his hair but that she has her “mama’s nose” and unique traits like “that special twinkle? / It’s all mine / I sparkle and shine.” Harvey explains that her donor “helped…/ more parents… / More wishes came true,” and she communicates with her “donor siblings / Genetic strings.” Now that she is older, Harvey thinks about meeting the donor in person. She wonders: “Would he be proud of me?” Ultimately, Harvey acknowledges that she has her mom’s support and love, no matter what: “Precious, whole, free / Forever her chickpea.” Bolstered by Coad’s experiences, this lyrical book will be relatable to children in the donor-conception community. Harvey is an honest, thoughtful narrator. Youngsters with similar family backgrounds will appreciate her openness and curiosity. MacPherson’s colorful illustrations add whimsy. They offer scenes of Harvey’s life, from conception to young adulthood. Lovely backgrounds include starry skies in deep hues. The images of Harvey’s family tree are particularly creative. They feature snapshots, question marks, and puzzle pieces, providing peeks into Harvey’s world.
A personal, insightful look at a child’s exploration of family and identity.Pub Date: April 27, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-22-883220-1
Page Count: 38
Publisher: Tellwell Talent
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Earnest and well meaning but not quite a touchdown.
In Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Hurts’ motivational picture book, a youngster rebounds from disappointment.
As Jalen heads off on his first day of school, he daydreams about joining the football team, but his friend Trey soon breaks the bad news. The garden club needed more space for vegetables, so the football field was used for planting. There will be no football this year. Jalen is despondent, but his teachers Mrs. Lee and Mr. Barry and bodega owner Mr. Muhammad offer guidance that spurs him and his friends into positive action. They work to flip a nearby empty lot into a football field, with Jalen echoing his mentors’ adages. Once the field is complete, Jalen feels a swell of pride in his and his friends’ work. While the idea of kids working together to effect change is a laudable one, the bland, wordy storytelling won’t inspire young people or hold their attention. Tired, cliched inspirational comments peppered throughout often slow down the narrative, and many adult readers will find the premise—a school dropping a high-interest sports program in favor of a community garden—wildly unrealistic. Though the illustrations are colorful, with a Disney Junior charm, strange stylistic choices, such as signs with odd combinations of scribbles instead of letters, give them an unpolished look. Like Hurts, Jalen is Black; his community is diverse.
Earnest and well meaning but not quite a touchdown. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 10, 2026
ISBN: 9798217040308
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Flamingo Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2026
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.
The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.
When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
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