This interactive guide to activism and its endearing protagonist both burst with energy.
Farah Patel is full of questions.
One day, she notices that her urban neighborhood is missing butterflies. When she asks why, Farah’s mother tells her that it’s because their community lacks greenery. When Farah and her mother pass an empty lot with a sign in front of it asking citizens to contact Mayor Khan with their ideas for it, Farah lands on the perfect plan: She and her neighbors could turn it into a community garden! Not only would this attract butterflies, it would also provide families with a local source of fresh fruits and vegetables. Farah writes to the mayor, but the mayor writes back saying that the plan is to turn the space into a parking lot. Determined to change this, Farah organizes her friends and neighbors to work together to advocate for a garden. This cheerfully illustrated picture book is the perfect beginner text for young activists, providing examples of kid-friendly actions, including writing letters to politicians, testifying at public meetings, and organizing rallies. The book contains cleverly designed pages shaped like envelopes that contain removable samples of letters, petitions, and protest signs that kids can use as templates for their own community-based action. The book’s language is both clear and empowering—never preachy—and the plot moves quickly. Farah is South Asian, and in Syed’s art, her neighborhood reflects the ideal of American diversity.
This interactive guide to activism and its endearing protagonist both burst with energy. (Picture book/novelty. 3-8)Pub Date: Jan. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-302959-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: HarperFestival
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
PERSPECTIVES
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
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
Though told by two outsiders to the culture, this timely and well-crafted story will educate readers on the preciousness of...
An international story tackles a serious global issue with Reynolds’ characteristic visual whimsy.
Gie Gie—aka Princess Gie Gie—lives with her parents in Burkina Faso. In her kingdom under “the African sky, so wild and so close,” she can tame wild dogs with her song and make grass sway, but despite grand attempts, she can neither bring the water closer to home nor make it clean. French words such as “maintenant!” (now!) and “maman” (mother) and local color like the karite tree and shea nuts place the story in a French-speaking African country. Every morning, Gie Gie and her mother perch rings of cloth and large clay pots on their heads and walk miles to the nearest well to fetch murky, brown water. The story is inspired by model Georgie Badiel, who founded the Georgie Badiel Foundation to make clean water accessible to West Africans. The details in Reynolds’ expressive illustrations highlight the beauty of the West African landscape and of Princess Gie Gie, with her cornrowed and beaded hair, but will also help readers understand that everyone needs clean water—from the children of Burkina Faso to the children of Flint, Michigan.
Though told by two outsiders to the culture, this timely and well-crafted story will educate readers on the preciousness of potable water. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-399-17258-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
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