More problematic than problem-solving.
A discussion starter offering contrasting answers to the titular question.
Children are likely to find their thinking more muddled than clarified by this set of scenarios, as—whether due to poor phrasing in the original French or awkward translation—the alternatives are often inscrutable or nonsensical. The confusion begins with the title, which is transformed to “What Makes Us Happy?” on an inside gatefold. Either way, the question is addressed in a series of broadly brushed scenes featuring an array of familiar animals with human expressions acting in anti-social ways on the left and, beneath further gatefolds on the right, more cooperatively. Thus, to use one of the less-obscure examples, the alternatives “Keeping everything for yourself? // Or sharing what you have?” caption views of a duckling depicted first clutching a basket full of lollipops, then handing them out. At other times, though, readers are invited to decide between “Being better than others // Or doing well with others”; “Being protected from all dangers // Or daring to jump and have fun”; “Using something until there is no more” (a monkey gulping down a pile of bananas), or (said monkey training a garden hose on a few banana plants) “taking care of things so we can keep enjoying it” (sic).
More problematic than problem-solving. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Oct. 30, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-62795-121-0
Page Count: 60
Publisher: Shelter Harbor Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 1, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2018
Children new to the language may flounder; those with a handle on their alef-bets already will happily sing along, and...
An effervescent run through the sounds and characters of the Hebrew alphabet, with a free musical track available via download.
Typical of song lyrics transcribed to print, the rhymes and rhythms sometimes sound better than they read: “Nun is for na’al—that’s my shoe. / Samech is for sus. That means horse in Hebrew.” Also, the audio version includes a fast alphabetical chorus that is not included in the book, except once at the end in a spread of untranscribed characters. There’s no lack of energy, though, in the language or the illustrations. Incorporating a large Hebrew character into each paint-and-collage scene, Gilboa portrays a light-skinned, red- and black-haired family in, mostly, modern dress dancing through domestic settings with pets, flowers, food, and finally a Torah scroll (for “Tav”). A closing note to adults suggests ways of sharing the contents.
Children new to the language may flounder; those with a handle on their alef-bets already will happily sing along, and they’ll probably pick up some new words along the way. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: April 6, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-68115-509-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Apples & Honey Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2016
Strong evidence that sometimes you really do just think you can.
A medley of aspirational sentiments and newly fashioned illustrations—both inspired by those of the classic tale.
The result is as ill wrought as it is ill conceived. Hart boils down the various versions of the original story’s major themes to a series of pithy formulations. These range from the mundane, “A positive attitude always helps when the going gets tough,” to such excruciatingly trite lines as “Remember that it’s always darkest before the dawn,” and “There’s always a light at the end of the tunnel!” He then fills in the page count with assorted tangential apothegms: “Always run on time”; “Everyone needs a little downtime for maintenance” (followed later on by “It’s okay to take a break”); “Don’t forget that everyone travels on their own track.” Evidently not having seen the final text, Howarth follows up this last with a contradictory view on the next page of two engines on the same track (“Go at your own pace!”). An earlier sequence involving a fallen tree finds it placed in three different places in as many illustrations. In general she sticks to traditional portrayals of the anthropomorphic locomotives and the toys in her diminutive scenes but gives one of the two toy dolls brown skin.
Strong evidence that sometimes you really do just think you can. (Picture book. 6-8, adult)Pub Date: March 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5247-8468-3
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Nov. 21, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2017
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