A culturally authentic journey through a modern Indian market lovingly told through the eyes of a child.
It’s market day, and a young Indian girl is looking for a gift for her mother.
But with so many colorful goods on display, how can she possibly decide what to get? As she wanders through the narrow lanes, the dark-skinned narrator inhales the scents of jasmine, kebabs, mint, and coriander, listens to the beating of large black drums, ducks out of the way of rickshaws and goats, and sneezes in a windblown cloud of spicy red chili powder. In the end, the pigtailed protagonist stops at a bangle stall, deciding that, since she cannot possibly choose just one color, she’ll have to choose them all. Based on the author’s childhood experiences of markets in Chennai, the book’s poetic prose actively engages all five senses. With a few well-chosen details, Sriram avoids making the story overtly Hindu: For example, the narrator takes care to explain that Amma doesn’t wear vermillion powder on her forehead, something typical of modern Indian families that is often overlooked in Western picture books. The illustrations are colorful and vibrant but at times lack key details. Script on signs in the background—which should be Tamil—is instead a set of scribbles, an artistic choice that misses an opportunity to fully realize the setting.
A culturally authentic journey through a modern Indian market lovingly told through the eyes of a child. (Picture book. 2-6)Pub Date: Aug. 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-64686-061-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Barefoot Books
Review Posted Online: April 7, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2020
Nice enough but not worth repeat reads.
Emma deals with jitters before playing the guitar in the school talent show.
Pop musician Kevin Jonas and his wife, Danielle, put performance at the center of their picture-book debut. When Emma is intimidated by her very talented friends, the encouragement of her younger sister, Bella, and the support of her family help her to shine her own light. The story is straightforward and the moral familiar: Draw strength from your family and within to overcome your fears. Employing the performance-anxiety trope that’s been written many times over, the book plods along predictably—there’s nothing really new or surprising here. Dawson’s full-color digital illustrations center a White-presenting family along with Emma’s three friends of color: Jamila has tanned skin and wears a hijab; Wendy has dark brown skin and Afro puffs; and Luis has medium brown skin. Emma’s expressive eyes and face are the real draw of the artwork—from worry to embarrassment to joy, it’s clear what she’s feeling. A standout double-page spread depicts Emma’s talent show performance, with a rainbow swirl of music erupting from an amp and Emma rocking a glam outfit and electric guitar. Overall, the book reads pretty plainly, buoyed largely by the artwork. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Nice enough but not worth repeat reads. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: March 29, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-35207-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
So sweet it’ll have readers heading for their toothbrushes.
Another entry in the how-much-I-love-you genre.
The opening spread shows a blue elephant-and-child pair, the child atop the adult, white hearts arcing between their uplifted trunks: “You’re a gift and a blessing in every way. / I love you more each and every day.” From there, the adult elephant goes on to tell the child how they are loved more than all sorts of things, some rhyming better than others: “I love you more than all the spaghetti served in Rome, // and more than each and every dog loves her bone.” More than stars, fireflies, “all the languages spoken in the world,” “all the dancers that have ever twirled,” all the kisses ever given and miles ever driven, “all the adventures you have ahead,” and “all the peanut butter and jelly spread on bread!” Representative of all the world’s languages are “I love you” in several languages (with no pronunciation help): English, Sioux, French, German, Swahili, Spanish, Hawaiian, Chinese, and Arabic (these two last in Roman characters only). Bold colors and simple illustrations with no distracting details keep readers’ focus on the main ideas. Dashed lines give the artwork (and at least one word on every spread) the look of 2-D sewn toys.
So sweet it’ll have readers heading for their toothbrushes. (Picture book. 2-6)Pub Date: Dec. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4926-8398-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
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