Uniquely successful.
In this cautionary tale, the trees teach an Indigenous kid a lesson about respecting nature.
Thomas doesn’t listen to his sister when she tells him to pick up his garbage. She reminds him of Grandma’s teachings, but Thomas is too busy telling his friends stories, wherein he plays a starring role as a skilled hunter and provider for his large family. His friends are tired of hearing his tales, and they challenge him to prove his skill by spending a night alone in the woods. Foolishly, Thomas accepts the challenge. He marks trees with string as he walks into the forest with just a backpack and sleeping bag, but he also strips the bark off of trees in boredom and leaves wrappers from his food on the ground. He manages to build a decent lean-to and falls asleep. But the trees, having seen his disrespectful conduct, uproot themselves and dance to new places, changing his markings so he can’t find his way. Thomas wakes up in the rain and gets lost. Having run out of food, Thomas is grateful to forage some cranberries and thanks the forest for the provisions. Seeing his mess, he cleans up before sleeping with fitful dreams of how disappointed his grandmother would be. The trees, satisfied with his changes, dance again to allow him to find his way home. While Simpson’s cartoon illustrations don’t quite match the traditional tone of Inuk/Dene author Kelly’s story, the fable accomplishes its educative goal while entertaining readers with memorable characters and suspense. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Uniquely successful. (Picture book. 4-9)Pub Date: Nov. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-77227-369-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Inhabit Media
Review Posted Online: Aug. 10, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2021
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted...
Reinvention is the name of the game for two blobs of clay.
A blue-eyed gray blob and a brown-eyed brown blob sit side by side, unsure as to what’s going to happen next. The gray anticipates an adventure, while the brown appears apprehensive. A pair of hands descends, and soon, amid a flurry of squishing and prodding and poking and sculpting, a handsome gray wolf and a stately brown owl emerge. The hands disappear, leaving the friends to their own devices. The owl is pleased, but the wolf convinces it that the best is yet to come. An ear pulled here and an extra eye placed there, and before you can shake a carving stick, a spurt of frenetic self-exploration—expressed as a tangled black scribble—reveals a succession of smug hybrid beasts. After all, the opportunity to become a “pig-e-phant” doesn’t come around every day. But the sound of approaching footsteps panics the pair of Picassos. How are they going to “fix [them]selves” on time? Soon a hippopotamus and peacock are staring bug-eyed at a returning pair of astonished hands. The creative naiveté of the “clay mates” is perfectly captured by Petty’s feisty, spot-on dialogue: “This was your idea…and it was a BAD one.” Eldridge’s endearing sculpted images are photographed against the stark white background of an artist’s work table to great effect.
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted fun of their own . (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-30311-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The story’s slight but allows kids to practice identifying and dealing with their own big feelings.
The diverse group of kids from All Are Welcome (2018) this time gathers in a vacant lot with tools in hand to clear the debris and make something new. But therein lies the rub: What should the something new be? While the exact nature of the disagreement is unfortunately not made clear to readers, the big feelings that the children exhibit are very clear (and for readers who need practice reading facial clues, there’s a labeled chart of 15 in the frontmatter). This book’s refrain is “How can I help? / What can we do?” And the answers, spread over several pages and not spelled out in so many words but rather shown in the illustrations, are: talk it through, compromise, and see things from another perspective. As a guide for dealing with feelings and problem-solving, the book is a bit slim and lacks a solid story to hook readers. But, as with its predecessor, its strength is again the diversity on display in its pages. There’s a rainbow of skin tones and hair colors as well as abundant variation in hair texture, several children exhibit visible disabilities, including one child who uses a wheelchair, and there are markers of religious and cultural diversity. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 29.6% of actual size.)
The story’s slight but allows kids to practice identifying and dealing with their own big feelings. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-525-57974-8
Page Count: 42
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Dec. 24, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2021
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