An informative, thoughtful story that encourages appreciation of diverse backgrounds.
A girl embraces her multifaceted heritage in Hernandez’s picture book.
Remy feels disheartened after her new classmates ask her, “Why are your eyes light if you have dark skin?” and “What are you?” She asks her mom, who has dark skin, “What am I?...I don’t look like anyone else.” Remy’s mom proposes they bake a cake, a process that Remy enjoys, and as “the cake rose, so did her spirits.” When Remy eats a slice, Mom asks, “Do you think your cake would taste so delicious if we made it only using flour?” The girl is puzzled. Her mom says the cake is so good because of its multiple ingredients, and she explains that Remy also has “a lot of ingredients that make you into YOU.” She adds that some people, like Remy (who is Polish, Mexican, Black, and Native American), “are a mix of many” ethnicities. Everyone is different, which “makes the world so beautiful.” At school the next day, Remy’s mom gives a baking lesson to Remy’s class. Students choose various enticing flavors and decorations, and every cake is terrific. Remy proudly says, “I’m MIXED and I love all my ingredients.” Hernandez’s sweet analogy is simple but kid friendly and may prompt meaningful conversations for young readers and their parents—along with a baking project or two. Lewis’ spirited illustrations feature bold hues and friendly characters with large eyes. Backdrops include fun additions like watercolor splotches, cake batter swirls, flowers, and flags and faces where Remy’s mom explains the meaning of ethnicity. Includes a page where the reader can note their own “cake mix.”
An informative, thoughtful story that encourages appreciation of diverse backgrounds.Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2021
ISBN: 978-1736880203
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Mixedkids&co
Review Posted Online: Jan. 10, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.
The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A syrupy tribute to mothers that may please fans of the series.
Another creature is on the loose.
The long-running series continues its successful formula with this Hallmark card of a book, which features bright illustrations and catchy rhymes. This time, the mythical creature the racially diverse children set out to catch is an absent mom who does it all (lists of descriptors include the words banker, caregiver, nurse, doctor, driver, chef, housekeeper, teacher, entertainer, playmate, laundry service, problem solver, handywoman, cleaner, and alarm clock) but doesn’t seem to have a job outside the home and is inexplicably a dinosaur. As the children prepare gifts and a meal for her, the text becomes an ode to the skills the Mamasaurus possesses (“Day or night she’s always there. / She meets every wish and need”) and values she instills (“Sometimes life can mean hard work,” “kindness matters,” and “what counts is doing your best”). This well-intentioned selection veers into cliche generously sprinkled with saccharine but manages to redeem itself with its appreciation for mothers and all that they may do. Endpapers include a “to” and “from” page framed in a heart, as well as a page where young gift givers or recipients can draw a picture of their Mamasaurus.
A syrupy tribute to mothers that may please fans of the series. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781728274300
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2024
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