A festive bilingual offering from Ehlert (Moon Rope/Un lazo a la luna, 1992, etc.), with the Spanish translation by Gloria de Aragon Andejar, based on a Mayan tale explaining how the cuckoo became plain. Cuckoo has a lovely song and glorious plumage, but she is lazy. The other birds and animals enjoy her singing, but caw about her lack of ambition. When Owl, the "bird boss" (or "el jefe de los pajaros"), announces that the next day will be seed collection, all the birds go to sleep dreaming of the work ahead. But Cuckoo stays awake, singing, and thus spots the fire that threatens the food supply. She works through the night alone, saving seeds. Her beautiful feathers and sweet voice are scorched; in the morning, her fellows almost don't recognize her. They all agree, as they rejoice in her deed, that "you can't tell much about a bird by looking at its feathers." Ehlert's note says she was inspired by Mexican folk art, and echoes of Mexican papercuts, tinware, santos sculpture, and other forms appear in flat, collage-like patterns, vibrating with rich, bright color. Silver cutouts like tin ornaments illustrate the glossary that appears on the title page-spread. A book almost as much a piece of folk art as it is a folktale. (Picture book/folklore. 3-7)
Pub Date: April 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-15-200274-X
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1997
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
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A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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On hot summer nights, Amani’s parents permit her to go outside and play in the apartment courtyard, where the breeze is cool and her friends are waiting.
The children jump rope to the sounds of music as it floats through a neighbor’s window, gaze at stars in the night sky, and play hide-and-seek in the moonlight. It is in the moonlight that Amani and her friends are themselves found by the moon, and it illumines the many shades of their skin, which vary from light tan to deep brown. In a world where darkness often evokes ideas of evil or fear, this book is a celebration of things that are dark and beautiful—like a child’s dark skin and the night in which she plays. The lines “Show everyone else how to embrace the night like you. Teach them how to be a night-owning girl like you” are as much an appeal for her to love and appreciate her dark skin as they are the exhortation for Amani to enjoy the night. There is a sense of security that flows throughout this book. The courtyard is safe and homelike. The moon, like an additional parent, seems to be watching the children from the sky. The charming full-bleed illustrations, done in washes of mostly deep blues and greens, make this a wonderful bedtime story.
Vital messages of self-love for darker-skinned children. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: July 2, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-525-55271-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2019
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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