A useful, sometimes-advanced addition to books about grown-up jobs.
Lin and Chang’s debut picture book hails a project-manager mom and the tasks she performs.
The unnamed narrator of this book, a young blond boy, explains to readers what his dark-haired mother, a project manager, does for a living. (Text is in Spanish, which is translated by Morales; Chinese, which is translated by Lin; and English.) She works with many people; she tracks project costs and manages tasks; she prevents scope creep. Besides doing her job well, the narrator’s mother also has some fine qualities like courage, intelligence, and affection. All in all, exclaims the boy, “She is my super project manager mom!” Most children’s books about adult careers use familiar roles like firefighter, mail carrier, or doctor. But the contemporary working world consists of many more kinds of jobs, especially managerial ones, so Lin fills an important gap. These somewhat abstract concepts are rendered with kid-friendly interpretations, helped out by Chang’s winsome colored-pencil illustrations. For example, “mitigation plan” is illustrated by the mother’s tote bag full of items like an umbrella, a first-aid kit, sunblock, bug spray, and so on—things that give options to address problems and increase success. Adults may still need to connect some of the dots for young readers, such as definitions for terms like “mitigation” or “stakeholders.” And some connections are less convincing, like how the mother “lifts up people’s spirits with her magic wand,” which is a presentation clicker at work and a spatula at home.
A useful, sometimes-advanced addition to books about grown-up jobs.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-951486-00-6
Page Count: 30
Publisher: Fnova Publishing LLC
Review Posted Online: Nov. 25, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
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