Art appreciation from the lens of royal Black childhood—beautiful!
In Freeman’s latest Princess Arabella book, this young Black princess gives her royal friends a tour of her very own museum.
Unlike the Louvre, Princess Arabella’s museum seems to attract more children than adults, features many hands-on exhibits, and displays art that relates to the princess’s family. Portraits of Princess Arabella and her mother attract the attention of her regal friends because both have blue faces. Princess Ling calls this “strange” while Prince Jonas declares it “magnificent.” Princess Naomi says she recognizes Arabella as the subject of these portraits, regardless of skin color. The Worhol-esque endpapers even foreshadow this conversation, depicting Arabella with blue, red, pink, green, purple, and orange skin. And indeed, the wonderfully stylized images of Princess Arabella’s unique hairdo, which Freeman creates with increasingly smaller unconnected circles that give the essence of five pigtails, make her unmistakable. Other museum exhibits include huge, colorful dotted pumpkins like Yayoi Kusama’s, a giant spider that recalls Louise Bourgeois’ Maman, one dog inspired by Jeff Koons and another by Keith Haring, and a portrait of her parents reminiscent of Kehinde Wiley’s portraits of the Obamas. Docent Arabella, wearing her Mondrian-inspired dress, concludes the gathering with tasty treats and enjoys the children’s excitement for making their own amazing artwork. Like the other Princess Arabella books, this one features a cast of multicultural characters from different, though unspecified, countries. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10.3-by-16.6-inch double-page spreads viewed at 57.1% of actual size.)
Art appreciation from the lens of royal Black childhood—beautiful! (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Oct. 20, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-913175-06-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Cassava Republic Press
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020
A tale of intergenerational bonding to be shared by grandparents and grandchildren.
In talk-show host Fallon and illustrator Ordóñez’s latest picture-book collaboration, an elderly pooch waxes rhapsodic about a life well lived.
Observing Papa sitting in his chair watching TV all day, a young pup says, “I’m starting to think…you don’t do ANYTHING.” So Papa proceeds to list his accomplishments, both big and small, mundane and profound. Some are just a result of being older and physically bigger (being tall enough to reach a high shelf and strong enough to open jars); others include winning a race and performing in a band when he was younger. Eventually, the pup realizes that while Papa may have slowed down in his old age, he’s led a full life. The most satisfying thing about Papa’s life now? Watching his grandchild take center stage: “I can say lots of thoughts / but I choose to be quiet. / I’d rather you discover things and then try it.” Fallon’s straightforward text is sweetly upbeat, though it occasionally lacks flow, forcing incongruous situations together to fit the rhyme scheme (“I cook and I mow, / and I once flew a plane. // I play newspaper puzzles because it’s good for my brain”). Featuring uncluttered, colorful backgrounds, Ordóñez’s child-friendly digital art at times takes on sepia tones, evoking the sense of looking back at old photos or memories. Though the creators tread familiar ground, the love between Papa and his little one is palpable.
A tale of intergenerational bonding to be shared by grandparents and grandchildren. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 13, 2025
ISBN: 9781250393975
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2025
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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
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