Gift this to every aspiring and beginning entrepreneur; they will thank you.
Child entrepreneur Ulmer shares the story of how she became a business owner, philanthropist, and environmental activist.
Ulmer and her family loved spending time outside, but when she was stung by a bee twice in the span of a week, she became afraid to go outside. She was only 4, and her parents encouraged her to learn about bees instead of letting her fear prevent her from doing things she loved. What Ulmer learned about bees fascinated her—and concerned her. Endangered bees meant an endangered food supply. Ulmer wanted to do something about that. She had seen kids selling lemonade for Austin Lemonade Day, and she decided to start saving the bees by raising money through a lemonade stand. Her passion for her business and for the bees, her parents’ support, her attention to every opportunity, and careful use of every bit of knowledge that came her way all carried her from weekly lemonade stands to bottling her lemonade for sale at one local pizza parlor, then an offer from Whole Foods, regional expansion, Shark Tank, and beyond. In sharing her story, this talented Black girl breaks down not only each opportunity and decision she and those who supported her had to make along the way, but also the lessons about business that she learned in the process, making this a manual as well as a memoir. Her growth is inspiring, her story is fascinating, and her wisdom is priceless for young entrepreneurs.
Gift this to every aspiring and beginning entrepreneur; they will thank you. (Nonfiction. 7-16)Pub Date: Aug. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-984815-08-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
A variety show brimming with esoteric and practical information.
Two youngsters embark on a journey peppered with history, trivia, and skits while teaching money lessons.
Meet Mellody and John, the young stars of this currency showcase. Their very first dialogue offers a taste of the intriguing information to come, from the ancient Mayans’ use of cacao beans as payment to the origins of the piggy bank. The book offers a chronologically and geographically broad timeline of the history of money, encompassing the past 3.9 billion years (starting with meteorite crashes that scattered metals—“the very first bank deposit”) and referencing practices across five continents. Readers will find themselves eagerly sharing the facts gleaned here, including the centuries-old origins of terms and expressions still used today. Mellody and John’s fun banter crucially reflects their experiences with money, such as their families’ differing attitudes toward allowances. Both are savers as well as givers, sharing stories about giving to charity. In one especially entertaining section, a cat and a bunny converse in money-related catchphrases that are separately defined at the bottom of each page. Stevens’ watercolors are appropriately realistic and appealing, whether depicting Mellody’s pretend bank or Elizabeth II’s butler ironing a 10-pound note. Messages about money’s use as a means to an end, rather than an end in itself, ensure that readers will think about their own purposes for their savings. Mellody and John are Black.
A variety show brimming with esoteric and practical information. (index) (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781536224719
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
Pretty but insubstantial.
Zommer surveys various bird species from around the world in this oversized (almost 14 inches tall tall) volume.
While exuberantly presented, the information is not uniformly expressed from bird to bird, which in the best cases will lead readers to seek out additional information and in the worst cases will lead to frustration. For example, on spreads that feature multiple species, the birds are not labeled. This happens again later when the author presents facts about eggs: Readers learn about camouflaged eggs, but the specific eggs are not identified, making further study extremely difficult. Other facts are misleading: A spread on “city birds” informs readers that “peregrine falcons nest on skyscrapers in New York City”—but they also nest in other large cities. In a sexist note, a peahen is identified as “unlucky” because she “has drab brown feathers” instead of flashy ones like the peacock’s. Illustrations are colorful and mostly identifiable but stylized; Zommer depicts his birds with both eyes visible at all times, even when the bird is in profile. The primary audience for the book appears to be British, as some spreads focus on European birds over their North American counterparts, such as the mute swan versus the trumpeter swan and the European robin versus the American robin. The backmatter, a seven-word glossary and an index, doesn’t provide readers with much support.
Pretty but insubstantial. (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: June 4, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-500-65151-3
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2019
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