The ballerina-in-training sparkles in her return engagement when she learns to be a good big sister and to share the spotlight.
Tallulah, of Tallulah’s Tutu (2011), is certain that she will star in her school’s winter recital of the Frog Prince and shows little patience with younger brother, Beckett, who has joined her in ballet studies. Her head swells with visions of flowers for her outstanding performance as the princess. Meanwhile, Beckett pays little attention and even spends a stint in the time-out chair. Surprise! Beckett’s jumping skills land him the role of the Frog before princedom, and Tallulah is, alas, only a lady-in-waiting. The moment of reckoning arrives when their mother asks Tallulah to help her crying and nervous little brother. That she does, commendably. The result is a wonderful performance that is instrumental in landing each of them starring roles in the spring production of Hansel and Gretel. Veteran Singer approaches both issues—ego and sibling bonding—with a sure hand. Boiger once again uses watercolors in balletic shades of lilac, blue and green to great effect and creates a welcoming studio and stage setting. A lovely story that gently and effectively presents common childhood difficulties wrapped in a world of tutus and sparkles. (Picture book. 3-7)
Pub Date: May 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-547-33004-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 14, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2012
A sumptuously illustrated, bittersweet story that’s at once an ode to and a eulogy for Black American farms.
The story of one Black farmer stands in for the plight of many.
The young Black protagonist who narrates the story farms with his grandfather, Earl, whom he calls Papa. Once one of many Black farmers who sold at this market, Earl’s now the only one left, selling homegrown pumpkins, peppers, and plums. In this tight-knit community, folks look out for one another like family. When Earl is too tired to go to the market, his grandson harvests and sells the produce without him. But Earl’s customers send the boy home with goods to help Papa heal: pumpkin pie, stuffed peppers, candied plums, and plum jam. References to color abound in both text and the art: Papa’s black hands, which can make and fix anything; the black night sky in a community with no streetlights; Papa’s blue truck; the purple plums. The Pumphreys’ bold, stunning artwork, created with digitally edited handmade stamps, perfectly captures the pace of hot summer days in the rural South, the joy of growing produce for others, and the sadness of losing these important sources of nutritious food and community. In an author’s note, Eady calls his heartfelt tale both a love letter to a fading way of life and an apology to those facing the racism that has contributed to the decimation of Black-owned farms.
A sumptuously illustrated, bittersweet story that’s at once an ode to and a eulogy for Black American farms. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Jan. 30, 2024
ISBN: 9780593480571
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Charms from cover to cover
Gardening tips abound in this delightful guide to caring for a lemon tree.
The unnamed protagonist has a carefully drawn-out list of acceptable electronics she wants for her birthday. But Grandma instead brings…gasp…a lemon tree. The second-person text covers appropriate and inappropriate reactions and then advises readers to accept the potted present politely and wait for Grandma to leave or take a nap. Then you definitely shouldn’t: drop it from a bridge, send it aloft with balloons, or “play ding dong ditch” with it (all illustrated with wry understatement). Instead, the narrator offers some incredibly important do’s: put the fruit tree “in a sunny spot” (the grassy verge between sidewalk and street), don’t overwater it, and “battle against intruders” who seem to come from all directions. After nearly a year of caring for her reluctantly received sapling, the protagonist joyously picks her lush lemons, and Grandma even returns to help make some fresh lemonade, the sale of which leads to more plants for her burgeoning garden. Rocha’s colors and characters leap right off the page, encouraging readers to get out into the world and create life, beauty, and some great-tasting lemonade (recipe included). The community is diverse and urban, with no lack of personality and detail. The protagonist and Grandma are both black, she with black pigtail puffs and Grandma with a white poof of hair.
Charms from cover to cover . (Fiction. 3-7)Pub Date: March 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4549-2381-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sterling
Review Posted Online: Dec. 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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