bookshelf

LITTLE BLACK HOLE

Name: LITTLE BLACK HOLE
Author: Molly Webster
ISBN: 9780593464755

by Molly Webster ; illustrated by Alex Willmore ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 9, 2023

A sweet friendship story with a science twist.

bookshelf

In science journalist Webster’s debut picture book, a lonely little black hole gets some comforting advice.

Worried that whenever she makes a friend, they disappear, a personified black hole is reassured by a larger one that she carries her friends with her—literally and metaphorically. Indeed, when she thinks about her friends, they reappear in the glow of her memories. Working from Stephen Hawking’s theories about black hole radiation and scientific speculation that the emitted particles could reveal something about what’s inside, Webster has concocted a fanciful story of friendship and loss, though the actual scientific hypothesis (“a black hole might be burping out teeny tiny bits of matter,” and together these particles “give off a very faint light. A glow!”), described in the backmatter, will require more background to understand. The appearance of a space fox among the stars, planets, space rocks, and suited astronauts reminds young readers that this is fantasy. The straightforward text is set in white on the black background of the universe. But Willmore’s expressive illustrations show a universe that also has lively color—brightly hued planets, the iridescent streak of a visiting star and a comet, and clouds of color trailing from the little black hole herself, showing her excitement at meeting another like her. Her final “glow,” in shades of purple, blue, turquoise, and orange, is splendid. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A sweet friendship story with a science twist. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: May 9, 2023

ISBN: 9780593464755

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Philomel

Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

bookshelf

CARPENTER'S HELPER

by Sybil Rosen ; illustrated by Camille Garoche ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.

bookshelf

A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.

Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: March 16, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random

Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

bookshelf

ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

bookshelf

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)