The highlights of this collection are the notes and the CD itself; jazz aficionados wishing to share their enthusiasm with...
An anthology of familiar songs from the mid-20th century are gathered in a petite picture book, with illustrations, notes, and an accompanying CD.
Green’s style features many light, curling lines filled in with mostly washed-out, pastel colors, human figures sharing the picture plane with vegetation, birds, clouds, and snowflakes. Occasionally she chooses to place these figures in a setting, as in a black man strumming a guitar in a rocking chair, surrounded by cotton bolls and underneath puffy clouds that leak large raindrops for “Stormy Weather.” Her style eschews perspective, giving the pictures a childlike look. Each song is given one or two double-page spreads and is accompanied by a compressed but informative note by Françoise Tenier via translation by David Lytle and Hélène Roulston. These are aimed at adult readers and offer valuable insights. Mystifyingly, the lyrics to two songs are not reproduced while others are; that these are the first two songs in the book (“Willow Weep for Me,” sung by Billie Holiday, and “Gone with the Wind,” sung by Julie London) is deeply unfortunate. Green depicts both black and white children and adults, but some may be taken aback at her choice to pair white or light-skinned women with songs from Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, and Sarah Vaughan.
The highlights of this collection are the notes and the CD itself; jazz aficionados wishing to share their enthusiasm with their children may find it a useful vehicle. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-2-924217-78-8
Page Count: 36
Publisher: The Secret Mountain
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2016
It’s a slam dunk
Lucy discovers that the way to learn to play basketball is with friends on a neighborhood court.
Lucy loves playing in the park, and one day she and her friends join their friend Ava and her cousin in their new favorite sport: basketball. Pro player Jermaine, aka “Coach J,” teaches all the basics—footwork, quick passes, dribbling, and a variety of shots. But he also encourages the players to keep trying when they miss, stresses the value of teamwork, and focuses on fun as they learn and later play a practice game. At the end of the workout, Coach J invites the young players to watch him and his team play. Written in loose rhyming couplets, the text has many near rhymes and inconsistent meter. While the storyline is predictable, the book is a good introduction to basketball terms, and young basketball players and fans will appreciate reading about themselves. Vivid silhouetted figures against a white background portray male and female players of several races; Lucy herself is white while Ava and Coach J are black. One young player competes from a wheelchair. A half page of backmatter explains the history of basketball, the NBA and its players, and wheelchair basketball, and one entry also explains the three-on-three basketball that the children play. The book publishes in a simultaneous French edition translated by Rachel Martinez.
It’s a slam dunk . (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4598-1697-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
An early reader that kids will want to befriend.
In an odd-couple pairing of Bear and Chipmunk, only one friend is truly happy to spend the day at the beach.
“Not me!” is poor Chipmunk’s lament each time Bear expresses the pleasure he takes in sunning, swimming, and other activities at the beach. While controlled, repetitive text makes the story accessible to new readers, slapstick humor characterizes the busy watercolor-and-ink illustrations and adds interest. Poor Chipmunk is pinched by a crab, buried in sand, and swept upside down into the water, to name just a few mishaps. Although other animal beachgoers seem to notice Chipmunk’s distress, Bear cheerily goes about his day and seems blithely ignorant of his friend’s misfortunes. The playful tone of the illustrations helps soften the dynamic so that it doesn’t seem as though Chipmunk is in grave danger or that Bear is cruel. As they leave at the end of the book Bear finally asks, “Why did you come?” and Chipmunk’s sweet response caps off the day with a warm sunset in the background.
An early reader that kids will want to befriend. (Early reader. 5-7)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3546-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2015
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