Read this aloud to complement apple units or family trips to the orchard.
Family history reveals itself as applesauce is lovingly made from hand-picked fruit.
Maria narrates the story of an annual family outing. Her white urban family packs their car with the large pot, symbol of this special day, in addition to their bushel baskets. First stop is the apple orchard, where everyone, including toddler Ezra, joins in the picking. Then it’s on to Grandma’s rural house. Grandma wears an old-fashioned apron over her jeans, and everyone else dons one, too. The preparations begin, using the big pot, while Mom reminisces about getting apples with Grandma at a farm stand “in their quiet Ohio town, and how they cooked them in this very pot when she was a little girl.” Grandma talks about “how she helped her mother pick apples from the old apple tree behind their house on the windy Iowa prairie, and how they too cooked them in this pot when she was a little girl.” Observant readers will notice the same aprons being worn for several generations as well. The action shifts back to today. “Crank! Squish! Crankity! Squish!” goes the food mill as Grandma helps Maria and younger sister Hannah prepare the apples once they are cooked. The exuberant, soft-edged paintings show a happy family working together, and the generational continuity lends an extra dimension to a simple story.
Read this aloud to complement apple units or family trips to the orchard. (recipe, additional facts) (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-8075-0392-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
There’s always tomorrow.
A lyrical message of perseverance and optimism.
The text uses direct address, which the title- and final-page illustrations suggest comes from an adult voice, to offer inspiration and encouragement. The opening spreads reads, “Tonight as you sleep, a new day stirs. / Each kiss good night is a wish for tomorrow,” as the accompanying art depicts a child with black hair and light skin asleep in a bed that’s fantastically situated in a stylized landscape of buildings, overpasses, and roadways. The effect is dreamlike, in contrast with the next illustration, of a child of color walking through a field and blowing dandelion fluff at sunrise. Until the last spread, each child depicted in a range of settings is solitary. Some visual metaphors falter in terms of credibility, as in the case of a white-appearing child using a wheelchair in an Antarctic ice cave strewn with obstacles, as the text reads “you’ll explore the world, only feeling lost in your imagination.” Others are oblique in attempted connections between text and art. How does a picture of a pale-skinned, black-haired child on a bridge in the rain evoke “first moments that will dance with you”? But the image of a child with pink skin and brown hair scaling a wall as text reads “there will be injustice that will challenge you, and it will surprise you how brave you can be” is clearer.
There’s always tomorrow. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Jan. 8, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-101-99437-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 11, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
An upbeat tale with a much-needed message: Imagination and positivity can save the day.
In this picture book from pop star Kevin Jonas and his wife, TV personality Danielle Jonas, a rainy day forces a child to find an alternate way to enjoy the beach.
Family beach day is one of Bella’s favorite things. She loves splashing in the waves, jumping from rock to rock, and building sand castles. Today, however, the weather isn’t cooperating, but Bella isn’t upset. “It will just have to stop raining. That’s all.” Disappointment sets in when her family tells her that beach day is off. Teary Bella rejects suggested indoor pastimes like board games, musical jam sessions, or reading stories together, and she retreats to her room. Dejected, Bella consoles herself with her stuffed bunny, Mr. Bonkers, until her parents and sister, Emma, knock on her door with a surprise: “BEDROOM BEACH DAY!” With just a few household items—a big lamp for the sun, a fan for the ocean breeze, a blue blanket for water, and pillows for rocks—and a large dose of imagination, Bella’s bedroom is transformed. A flexible attitude from all helps Bella—and readers—realize that things may not always go as planned…but sometimes they can be even better than we expected. Whimsical, cartoonish drawings and a dialogue-driven narrative turn a setback into an uplifting family experience. Bella and her family are light-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
An upbeat tale with a much-needed message: Imagination and positivity can save the day. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: July 11, 2023
ISBN: 9780593352106
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
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