A sweet look at what familia can mean.
A Mexican American child meets her whole extended familia for the first time.
In Mami’s small pink car, Mariana moves across the frontera and into “a jumble of mismatched buildings of all shapes and sizes” as she takes in the sights and sounds of México. Finally, the two of them arrive at Abuelita’s door, and Mariana grabs onto Mami as a shadow looms behind some drapes and a couple of other children peek out. Inside, Mariana’s whole family greets her, but not even Abuelita’s hug and kisses soothe Mariana’s worries. After all, who wouldn’t feel shy standing in “this house filled with brand-new people”? When Mariana hands out presents to her familia, she misspeaks and calls her Abuelita “agualita,” spurring the other children to start giggling. Embarrassed, Mariana retreats into herself until Abuelita comes to her aid with a storybook full of pictures, crispy quesadillas, and creamy frijoles and arroz, subtly teaching the girl Spanish words. By book’s end, Abuelita and Mariana—and everyone else—come together as familia. Measured in its empathy, this tale admirably explores a familial scenario that many readers will understand all too well. Kudos also to Meza’s eclectic, colorful artwork, which features double-page spreads full of slightly unusual perspectives that reflect Marians’s initial discomfort. Though Spanish words are unitalicized, during crucial moments, a few specific Spanish words appear on the page as vibrant standouts, a visual cue of shared affection. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A sweet look at what familia can mean. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-296246-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2022
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
BOOK REVIEW
As insubstantial as hot air.
A diverse cast of children first makes a fleet of hot air balloons and then takes to the sky in them.
Lifestyle maven Gaines uses this activity as a platform to celebrate diversity in learning and working styles. Some people like to work together; others prefer a solo process. Some take pains to plan extensively; others know exactly what they want and jump right in. Some apply science; others demonstrate artistic prowess. But “see how beautiful it can be when / our differences share the same sky?” Double-page spreads leading up to this moment of liftoff are laid out such that rhyming abcb quatrains typically contain one or two opposing concepts: “Some of us are teachers / and share what we know. / But all of us are learners. / Together is how we grow!” In the accompanying illustration, a bespectacled, Asian-presenting child at a blackboard lectures the other children on “balloon safety.” Gaines’ text has the ring of sincerity, but the sentiment is hardly an original one, and her verse frequently sacrifices scansion for rhyme. Sometimes it abandons both: “We may not look / or work or think the same, / but we all have an / important part to play.” Swaney’s delicate, pastel-hued illustrations do little to expand on the text, but they are pretty. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11.2-by-18.6-inch double-page spreads viewed at 70.7% of actual size.)
As insubstantial as hot air. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Nov. 10, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4003-1423-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tommy Nelson
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
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