A cute story that doesn’t reach the high places it could.
An ordinary mouse, dreaming of a less ordinary life, sets off on a journey that tests her in this new take on the story told by John Steptoe in The Story of Jumping Mouse (1984).
When a little female mouse suggests to the other mice that they set off to find the High Places of legend, she realizes the others don’t want a different life, and so she chooses to go alone. Soon, she comes to a fast-moving river where she meets Grandfather Frog. Moved by “the eagerness of [her] heart,” Grandfather Frog gifts her his ability to leap great distances and calls her Jumping Mouse. As she continues her journey, Jumping Mouse encounters Brother Buffalo and Sister Wolf, both of whom she finds distressed and crying. Displaying compassion, she gives the one her vision and the other her sense of smell, jeopardizing her own quest. Though the simple story lacks high dramatic conflict, the illustrations—hand-built, clay-sculpted characters photographed in real-life natural settings—provide visual interest and deserve praise. Younger readers will mostly enjoy the animal characters while older ones will likely engage with themes of friendship, self-sacrifice, and the importance of following one’s dreams. Some readers may find it troubling that misinformed beliefs in a singular, pan-Indian culture are reinforced by the generic subtitle as well as by the absence of the author/illustrator’s specific tribal affiliation/descent or even any note on the story’s origin.
A cute story that doesn’t reach the high places it could. (author’s note, note on art) (Picture book/folktale. 4-8)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-62414-817-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Page Street
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2019
The true meaning of the holiday season shines here.
Kids teach a valuable lesson about community spirit.
A city block is ablaze with red and green lights for Christmas; one house glows blue and white for Hanukkah. This is where Isaac, a Jewish boy, lives, across the street from best friend Teresa, excitedly preparing for Christmas. They love lighting up their homes in holiday colors. After an antisemitic bigot smashes a window in Isaac’s house, Isaac relights the menorah the next night, knowing if his family doesn’t, it means hiding their Jewishness, which doesn’t “feel right.” Artistic Teresa supports Isaac by drawing a menorah, inscribed to her friend, and placing the picture in her window. What occurs subsequently is a remarkable demonstration of community solidarity for Isaac and his family from everyone, including the media. Galvanized into defiant action against hate, thousands of townspeople display menorahs in windows in residences and public buildings. This quiet, uplifting tale is inspired by an incident that occurred in Billings, Montana, in 1993. Readers will feel heartened at children’s power to influence others to stand up for justice and defeat vile prejudice. The colorful illustrations, rendered digitally with brushes of the artist’s devising, resemble scratch art. Isaac and Teresa are White, and there is some racial diversity among the townspeople; one child is depicted in a wheelchair. An author’s note provides information about the actual event.
The true meaning of the holiday season shines here. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 19, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-64614-087-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Levine Querido
Review Posted Online: July 29, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
An uplifting story that rightfully asserts the multidimensionality of Black identity.
An empowering picture book seeks to instill pride in the descendants of enslaved people.
A dark-skinned young girl is the only brown person in her class. When her teacher talks about slavery, she feels ashamed and scrutinized by her peers. After a lesson about civil rights, some kids on the school playground whisper behind her back, and one boy even makes a racist comment. Feeling like she has been reduced to her race (“Is that all you see when you look at me?"), the girl finds perspective and strength in the stories her mother has told her about their female ancestors. Recalling that she has privileges and opportunities her foremothers didn’t have reminds the girl to be grateful. The narrative skips forward in time as the girl grows up and has a daughter who also finds herself the only brown-skinned child in her class. Now a woman, the protagonist teaches her daughter how to break out of the boxes that people put her in and exhorts her to “sit up straight / and / fly high into the sky.” A double-page spread shows a proud Black girl holding her fists in the air, braids flying outward, with her face skyward and a dazzling sunburst behind her. This emotionally honest look at the challenges of processing historical injustice and racial trauma provides a much-needed mirror for Black students, but anyone who has ever felt trapped by other people’s definitions of who they are can relate to the story on some level. Robinson’s digital illustrations exude a gentle dignity.
An uplifting story that rightfully asserts the multidimensionality of Black identity. (author's note, illustrator’s note) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Jan. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4257-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Neal Porter/Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
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