Will resonate with kids who have lost grandparents or other family members.
In this middle-grade novel, 12-year-old Sophia heads to the shore with her family only to find that things are different than they were before.
When Sophia arrives at her grandparents’ beach cottage for the first weekend of summer, as she does every year, she is excited but nervous: Would this summer be just like all the others? Memi has passed away, and this is the first time that she will have a beach retreat alone with Poppy. Her first afternoon at the cottage, Poppy gives Sophia trinkets from Memi—a china teapot, a calico apron, a handful of sea glass—and she is lost in the memory of her grandmother and what these little pieces meant to her. That night, when she sees Poppy laughing and talking with Tessie, Memi’s best friend, she is shocked: How could they forget about Memi so quickly? Why is Poppy smiling with another woman? Sophia would never forget about Memi. She and her summer friend, Thomas, talk about it, and Sophia continues to not only remember Memi, but to stay angry at Poppy. As Sophia’s weekend progresses, she must learn that honoring Memi and moving on are very much the same. Bauer’s touching debut may be enjoyed by all ages. While the prose is simple (but not too simple!) for younger readers, adult eyes will not tire of its rhythm, expressive language and descriptions of the seashore. Its pacing is also excellent—a difficult feat in a short book, but Bauer skillfully holds interest with a balance of journey and realization. Notes by Memi, included in the book, add a personal angle to Sophia’s grief. The work is a revealing, immersive look at death through a child’s eyes: It is easy, for a child, to think that moving on is forgetting about a person who has passed on. Adults know that this is not so.
Will resonate with kids who have lost grandparents or other family members.Pub Date: March 21, 2014
ISBN: 978-1495202766
Page Count: 60
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: June 5, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
New parents of daughters will eat these up and perhaps pass on the lessons learned.
All the reasons why a daughter needs a mother.
Each spread features an adorable cartoon animal parent-child pair on the recto opposite a rhyming verse: “I’ll always support you in giving your all / in every endeavor, the big and the small, / and be there to catch you in case you should fall. / I hope you believe this is true.” A virtually identical book, Why a Daughter Needs a Dad, publishes simultaneously. Both address standing up for yourself and your values, laughing to ease troubles, being thankful, valuing friendship, persevering and dreaming big, being truthful, thinking through decisions, and being open to differences, among other topics. Though the sentiments/life lessons here and in the companion title are heartfelt and important, there are much better ways to deliver them. These books are likely to go right over children’s heads and developmental levels (especially with the rather advanced vocabulary); their parents are the more likely audience, and for them, the books provide some coaching in what kids need to hear. The two books are largely interchangeable, especially since there are so few references to mom or dad, but one spread in each book reverts to stereotype: Dad balances the two-wheeler, and mom helps with clothing and hair styles. Since the books are separate, it aids in customization for many families.
New parents of daughters will eat these up and perhaps pass on the lessons learned. (Picture book. 4-8, adult)Pub Date: May 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-6781-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2019
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