In the vernacular Joseph used so effectively in A Wave in Her Pocket (1991, ALA Notable), Rosie describes her family's preparations for a Trinidad Christmas: plucking sorrel to make a traditional drink, baking currant cake, welcoming the ``parang'' men who serenade from house to house, repainting the guava branch the family uses as a tree. Finally, on the day, there's a large family gathering, gifts, and a visit to church to sing ``Happy Birthday to Jesus.'' In what may be her loveliest illustrations ever, Stock portrays the joyful activity in freely painted watercolors that beautifully evoke the island setting and vibrant, warmhearted characters. A welcome contribution. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 21, 1992
ISBN: 0-395-58761-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1992
A reassuring story of friendship in the face of change.
The art of Chinese paper cutting and the art of friendship come together in this heartfelt migration story.
Bundled up and brightly dressed, best friends Dandan and Yueyue gleefully stroll hand in hand through a snowy neighborhood in China. But joy soon turns to sorrow—Dandan learns that she and her family will soon be moving to America on the day of the Lunar New Year. The girls spend their remaining time together celebrating New Year’s Eve. They munch on dumplings, spend time with their families, and make bright red paper cuttings to serve as ornaments. With a tight hug and a stack of red paper as a parting gift, Yueyue urges Dandan to carry on their paper cutting tradition with a new friend in her new homeland. In America, Dandan feels lonely and friendless. Everything is different, she can’t speak English, and some of her new classmates laugh at her Chinese qipao dress. With a smile from a White, freckle-faced girl named Christina, though, her voice and a new friendship bloom. With so much to learn about her new home and her new friend, can Dandan keep old traditions—like paper cutting—alive? Liu’s descriptive text deftly captures the ups, downs, and in-betweens of a child’s experience moving to a new country. Scurfield’s digitally collaged pencil-and-ink illustrations are mostly bright and colorful, but a brief shift to monochrome underscores the strangeness of a new place and the anxiety of learning a new language. Repeated motifs underline the fact that regardless of geographical location, some things remain the same.
A reassuring story of friendship in the face of change. (author’s note, about the author, about paper cutting, how to make a snowflake instructions) (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Dec. 14, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-77818-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Godwin Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Uncomplicated and worthwhile for any age.
Parr focuses his simplistic childlike art and declarative sentences on gratitude for the pleasures and wonders of a child’s everyday life.
Using images of both kids and animals, each colorful scene in bold primary colors declaims a reason to be thankful. “I am thankful for my hair because it makes me unique” shows a yellow-faced child with a wild purple coiffure, indicating self-esteem. An elephant with large pink ears happily exclaims, “I am thankful for my ears because they let me hear words like ‘I love you.’ ” Humor is interjected with, “I am thankful for underwear because I like to wear it on my head.” (Parents will hope that it is clean, but potty-humor–loving children probably won’t care.) Children are encouraged to be thankful for feet, music, school, vacations and the library, “because it is filled with endless adventures,” among other things. The book’s cheery, upbeat message is clearly meant to inspire optimistic gratitude; Parr exhorts children to “remember some [things to be thankful for] every day.”
Uncomplicated and worthwhile for any age. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-316-18101-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 28, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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