An encouraging introduction to the classroom.
In Jamerson’s debut picture book, a young boy feels anxious on his first day of school.
Oliver, a Black child, is not excited to be starting school. Oliver knows his letters, but not how to put them together into words. As a result, he accidentally sits at the desk belonging to Olivia, an Asian American girl with enormous red glasses. Although the whole class is just starting to learn reading, and everyone is encouraging and enthusiastic, Oliver feels disheartened because he assumes he is behind…especially when red-haired Sam sounds out a word he doesn’t recognize. By the end of the day, however, Oliver has learned not only how to blend sounds together but also how fun learning can be when friends help each other. Jamerson tells a heartening if unnuanced story, tackling Oliver’s anxiety and apprehension within the context of a wholly supportive environment shaped by an enthusiastic, upbeat teacher (Miss Green, who dresses to match her name); he’s immediately embraced by students who evince no negative qualities (“‘I’m so proud of you!’ says Miss Green. The whole class cheers and claps”). Oliver’s classmates (including one child with a hearing aid) are presented as a happy, sweet, ethnically diverse cohort. Remesz’s colorful illustrations capture the brightness and busyness of primary school, adding rainbow-hued, floating words to the vivacious digital images that keep the story bubbling along.
An encouraging introduction to the classroom.Pub Date: July 16, 2024
ISBN: 9798990148307
Page Count: 32
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions.
Ellis, known for her illustrations for Colin Meloy’s Wildwood series, here riffs on the concept of “home.”
Shifting among homes mundane and speculative, contemporary and not, Ellis begins and ends with views of her own home and a peek into her studio. She highlights palaces and mansions, but she also takes readers to animal homes and a certain famously folkloric shoe (whose iconic Old Woman manages a passel of multiethnic kids absorbed in daring games). One spread showcases “some folks” who “live on the road”; a band unloads its tour bus in front of a theater marquee. Ellis’ compelling ink and gouache paintings, in a palette of blue-grays, sepia and brick red, depict scenes ranging from mythical, underwater Atlantis to a distant moonscape. Another spread, depicting a garden and large building under connected, transparent domes, invites readers to wonder: “Who in the world lives here? / And why?” (Earth is seen as a distant blue marble.) Some of Ellis’ chosen depictions, oddly juxtaposed and stripped of any historical or cultural context due to the stylized design and spare text, become stereotypical. “Some homes are boats. / Some homes are wigwams.” A sailing ship’s crew seems poised to land near a trio of men clad in breechcloths—otherwise unidentified and unremarked upon.
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6529-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
An invitation to wonder, imagine and look at everything (humans included) in a new way.
A young boy sees things a little differently than others.
Noah can see patterns in the dust when it sparkles in the sunlight. And if he puts his nose to the ground, he can smell the “green tang of the ants in the grass.” His most favorite thing of all, however, is to read. Noah has endless curiosity about how and why things work. Books open the door to those answers. But there is one question the books do not explain. When the wind comes whistling by, where does it go? Noah decides to find out. In a chase that has a slight element of danger—wind, after all, is unpredictable—Noah runs down streets, across bridges, near a highway, until the wind lifts him off his feet. Cowman’s gusty wisps show each stream of air turning a different jewel tone, swirling all around. The ribbons gently bring Noah home, setting him down under the same thinking tree where he began. Did it really happen? Worthington’s sensitive exploration leaves readers with their own set of questions and perhaps gratitude for all types of perspective. An author’s note mentions children on the autism spectrum but widens to include all who feel a little different.
An invitation to wonder, imagine and look at everything (humans included) in a new way. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 14, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-60554-356-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Redleaf Lane
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2015
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