A creative tale about the importance of kindness.
Neighbors learn to accept one another’s differences in this picture book.
In “the Land of Numerals,” Black Family 13 is considered “odd and unlucky.” The daughter, Little 13, struggles socially. She overhears schoolmates call her “bad luck.” Despite Dad 13’s encouragement, she feels dejected. One day, she observes her neighbors White Family 11 drive off and notices Baby 11’s blanket fly out the window. Heeding her dad’s reminder that “kindness counts,” Little 13 retrieves the blanket, wraps it, and attaches a note. When White “Grumpy Grandma 12” across the street sees Little 13 drop off the package, she calls “Police 911,” questioning, “Why is bad luck coming from House 11?” The police arrive and Family 11 returns. Little 13 anxiously watches the commotion. When Teen 11 reads Little 13’s note, he implores his mother to thank the youngster. Though hesitant to interact with her “unlucky” neighbors, Mom 11 realizes Family 13 is warm and kind. After she thanks Little 13, she and Mom 13 discover “they had so much in common and so much to share.” The moms recognize “no two numbers are the same, they are each special.” The use of numbers as a way to represent traits and differences between people is clever. Fakki deftly demonstrates the importance of respecting others, refuting stereotypes and assumptions, and treating individuals with compassion. Marreiro’s whimsical illustrations feature bright hues and cartoonlike characters with black dot eyes. Number-adorned wallpaper, clothing, and buildings appear throughout.
A creative tale about the importance of kindness.Pub Date: Dec. 6, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-73390-496-4
Page Count: 41
Publisher: Hightree Publishing
Review Posted Online: Nov. 8, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Readers who have ever wondered what it’s like to be a twin need look no further.
All children have “firsts,” but twins have their own special ones.
Two rosy-cheeked 5-year-old “look-alike” twin sisters share everything, but their most prized possession is a bright, striped blanket that stands out from the white background and the girls’ soft colors. Now that the blanket has become too small, who should keep it? On double-page spreads each girl gives her version of the dilemma. A truce is reached when their mother decides that they’ll sleep in twin beds and that she’ll make them each a new blanket. The sisters’ individual personalities begin to shine, as does the vibrant fabric that each picks out, and fun ensues when they help their mother wash and dry the fabric in the backyard. Even with their new blankets—with trim formed from their old blanket—the girls have trouble falling asleep in separate beds until they both reach out their hands to comfort one another in the dark. From newborns sleeping in similar poses to slumbering youngsters sprawled out in opposite positions to the selection of differently colored and designed fabrics, Yum’s deceptively quiet text and poignant illustrations, created from prints, colored pencil, watercolor and other media, convey the girls’ growing independence. Despite this divide—which is both physical and emotional—the twins recognize their inseparable bond.
Readers who have ever wondered what it’s like to be a twin need look no further. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Aug. 16, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-374-37972-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Frances Foster/Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2011
A simplistic, outdated take on Diwali for young children.
It’s Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, and Binny can’t wait to tell her class about her favorite holiday.
On their way through their North American suburb to school, Binny’s mother wishes her luck and reminds her to tell her class about the oil lamps that are a central part of their family’s Diwali tradition. But when Binny’s teacher, Mr. Boomer, invites her to share, Binny freezes, overcome with shyness. Taking a deep breath, she remembers her mother’s advice. The thought of the world filled with light—symbolizing the triumph of good over evil—gives Binny the strength she needs to tell her family’s Diwali story. While the book is thorough in its description of traditions like wearing new clothes, eating sweets, lighting lamps, and decorating floors and sidewalks with colored powder, the prose is clunky and clumsy, and Binny’s conflict is resolved so quickly that the story arc feels limp and uninteresting. Other elements of the text are troubling as well. Calling Binny’s new clothes an “Indian outfit,” for example, erases the fact that the kurta she wears is typical of the entire South Asian subcontinent. The use of most fireworks, which the author treats as an essential part of the holiday, is now banned in India due to concerns about pollution and child labor. Most problematically of all, the author continually treats Diwali as a Hindu holiday celebrated by “everyone,” which is untrue in India or in diaspora and which dangerously equates Hindu and Indian identity. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads reviewed at 49% of actual size.)
A simplistic, outdated take on Diwali for young children. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-338-36448-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
