If readers aren’t math-curious at the start, they will be by the end.
A young child explains a love of math and how it shapes the world.
Finding one’s passion is no easy feat, even (perhaps especially) when surrounded by everyone else’s. Dad loves to paint, Mom thrills at entomology, and a brother excels at music, but none of those quite fit. Neither does acting or dancing or cooking or singing or sports—all worthy activities but none of them the stuff of passion for the determined narrator. When everything has been tried, the protagonist is left with the simple truth—the one thing this child likes the most is math. Tanco unhurriedly unspools the protagonist’s passion as the text (occasionally punctuated with new vocabulary) notes how thoroughly the world is immersed in math, whether it’s in the form of geometric shapes on the playground, group problems at the dinner table, or paper-airplane trajectories. With each page turn, the lens and framework of math as a way to see the world takes shape. Without softening or hiding basic (but still complex) mathematical concepts, Tanco’s open, loose-lined illustrations offer visual dimension and definition, bridging, for instance, the unfamiliar concept of concentric circles with the everyday occurrence of water ripples. Further information can be found in a visual glossary. The narrator has light brown skin and a mass of brown, kinky curls; Mom has a similar look, and Dad presents white.
If readers aren’t math-curious at the start, they will be by the end. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 11, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-7352-6575-2
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Tundra Books
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on...
Continuing from their acclaimed Those Shoes (2007), Boelts and Jones entwine conversations on money, motives, and morality.
This second collaboration between author and illustrator is set within an urban multicultural streetscape, where brown-skinned protagonist Ruben wishes for a bike like his friend Sergio’s. He wishes, but Ruben knows too well the pressure his family feels to prioritize the essentials. While Sergio buys a pack of football cards from Sonny’s Grocery, Ruben must buy the bread his mom wants. A familiar lady drops what Ruben believes to be a $1 bill, but picking it up, to his shock, he discovers $100! Is this Ruben’s chance to get himself the bike of his dreams? In a fateful twist, Ruben loses track of the C-note and is sent into a panic. After finally finding it nestled deep in a backpack pocket, he comes to a sense of moral clarity: “I remember how it was for me when that money that was hers—then mine—was gone.” When he returns the bill to her, the lady offers Ruben her blessing, leaving him with double-dipped emotions, “happy and mixed up, full and empty.” Readers will be pleased that there’s no reward for Ruben’s choice of integrity beyond the priceless love and warmth of a family’s care and pride.
Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on children. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6649-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
Another quirky take on the series theme that it’s cool to be kind.
The cool beans again step up to do a timorous fellow legume a fava…this time at the pool.
Will a rash decision to tackle the multistory super-slide lead to another embarrassing watery fail for our shy protagonist? Nope, for up the stairs right behind comes a trio of cool beans, each a different type and color, all clad in nothing but dark shades. They make an offer: “It’s not as scary if you go with friends!” As the knobby nerd explains once the thrilling ride down is done, “They all realized that I just needed some encouragement and support.” Just to make sure that both cool and uncool readers get the message, the narrator lets us know that “there are plenty of kind folks who have my back. They’re always there when I need them.” The beany bonhomie doesn’t end at the bottom of the slide, with all gliding down to the shallow end of the pool (“3 INCHES. NO DIVING”) for a splashy finale. This latest early reader starring characters from John and Oswald’s immensely popular Food Group series will be a hit with fans. Fun accessories, such as a bean who rocks pink cat-eye frames, add some pizzazz to the chromatically and somatotypically varied cast.
Another quirky take on the series theme that it’s cool to be kind. (Easy reader. 5-7)Pub Date: March 26, 2024
ISBN: 9780063329560
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
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