Friendly sibling rivalry sparks a face-off between the two Japanese martial art forms, sumo and aikido.
Spare rhyming text introduces Japanese-American Sumo Joe as a “Strong big bro, / built for sumo,” who is “gentle, though.” While sister Jo must go to aikido, Joe’s friends arrive to “practice sumo!” His two friends, both boys of color, are quick to help tie the special belt and construct their makeshift wrestling ring with various throw pillows. They continue with “teppo,” or drills, including flinging salt to purify the “dohyo,” or ring. Japanese terms, printed in boldface on first occurrence, are seamlessly incorporated into the text, explaining different aspects of sumo. An author’s note and glossary also provide extended cultural notes on both martial art forms, including sumo’s origins in Shinto. Iwata provides a warm pastel palette with characters full of movement and personality. This is especially apparent when Jo returns from practice with her hair flying behind her. Jo is tenacious in challenging her brother despite the traditional sumo practice that women cannot enter the ring once it is purified. When Sumo Joe accepts, readers are treated to a lively sibling duel with a good-natured conclusion. With a saturation of ninja/ninjutsu books in the market, this is a refreshing new take on the martial arts genre.
Young readers will enjoy this spirited debut with insightful integration of cultural exploration. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 14, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-62014-802-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Lee & Low Books
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2019
Categories: CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS
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A succession of animal dads do their best to teach their young to say “Dada” in this picture-book vehicle for Fallon.
A grumpy bull says, “DADA!”; his calf moos back. A sad-looking ram insists, “DADA!”; his lamb baas back. A duck, a bee, a dog, a rabbit, a cat, a mouse, a donkey, a pig, a frog, a rooster, and a horse all fail similarly, spread by spread. A final two-spread sequence finds all of the animals arrayed across the pages, dads on the verso and children on the recto. All the text prior to this point has been either iterations of “Dada” or animal sounds in dialogue bubbles; here, narrative text states, “Now everybody get in line, let’s say it together one more time….” Upon the turn of the page, the animal dads gaze round-eyed as their young across the gutter all cry, “DADA!” (except the duckling, who says, “quack”). Ordóñez's illustrations have a bland, digital look, compositions hardly varying with the characters, although the pastel-colored backgrounds change. The punch line fails from a design standpoint, as the sudden, single-bubble chorus of “DADA” appears to be emanating from background features rather than the baby animals’ mouths (only some of which, on close inspection, appear to be open). It also fails to be funny.
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 9, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-250-00934-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
Categories: CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S FAMILY
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SEEN & HEARD
Dancing is one of the most universal elements of cultures the world over.
In onomatopoeic, rhyming text, Bolling encourages readers to dance in styles including folk dance, classical ballet, breakdancing, and line dancing. Read aloud, the zippy text will engage young children: “Tappity Tap / Fingers Snap,” reads the rhyme on the double-page spread for flamenco; “Jiggity-Jig / Zig-zag-zig” describes Irish step dancing. The ballet pages stereotypically include only children in dresses or tutus, but one of these dancers wears hijab. Overall, children included are racially diverse and vary in gender presentation. Diaz’s illustrations show her background in animated films; her active child dancers generally have the large-eyed sameness of cartoon characters. The endpapers, with shoes and musical instruments, could become a matching game with pages in the book. The dances depicted are described at the end, including kathak from India and kuku from Guinea, West Africa. Unfortunately, these explanations are quite rudimentary. Kathak dancers use their facial expressions extensively in addition to the “movements of their hands and their jingling feet,” as described in the book. Although today kuku is danced at all types of celebrations in several countries, it was once done after fishing, an activity acknowledged in the illustrations but not mentioned in the explanatory text.
The snappy text will get toes tapping, but the information it carries is limited. (Informational picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: March 3, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-63592-142-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
Categories: CHILDREN'S ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS
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