This otherwise successful series stumbles a bit in this outing.
The third offering in the Curious Sameer series from India invites readers to consider all the fun to be had during school vacations.
Sameer delights in giving Amma clues about the “special place” where he plans to spend his school vacation. From page to page, he constructs a childhood idyll, and his mother guesses various places that might embody the joys he describes. Finally, Amma repeats all of the wonderful things he mentions and asks him to tell her where this special place is. He reveals it to be “Grandma and Grandpa’s house, of course!” This lovely resolution is somewhat undermined by how out of place the English monikers feel in a story partially defined by its cultural specificity and seamless use of the term Amma and the name Sameer. Another, arguably more egregious, misstep occurs when Sameer describes a place where he can bring “puzzles, paint box, and drawing book.” Amma guesses that he is describing a summer camp, and the accompanying art shows children making art outside amid what seem like generic Plains Indian teepees. How these structures relate to a vision of summer camp is unclear—except perhaps through an unfortunate, tired reiteration of a stereotype of American Indians.
This otherwise successful series stumbles a bit in this outing. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: July 15, 2014
ISBN: 978-8-181-90287-0
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Karadi Tales
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
A syrupy tribute to mothers that may please fans of the series.
Another creature is on the loose.
The long-running series continues its successful formula with this Hallmark card of a book, which features bright illustrations and catchy rhymes. This time, the mythical creature the racially diverse children set out to catch is an absent mom who does it all (lists of descriptors include the words banker, caregiver, nurse, doctor, driver, chef, housekeeper, teacher, entertainer, playmate, laundry service, problem solver, handywoman, cleaner, and alarm clock) but doesn’t seem to have a job outside the home and is inexplicably a dinosaur. As the children prepare gifts and a meal for her, the text becomes an ode to the skills the Mamasaurus possesses (“Day or night she’s always there. / She meets every wish and need”) and values she instills (“Sometimes life can mean hard work,” “kindness matters,” and “what counts is doing your best”). This well-intentioned selection veers into cliche generously sprinkled with saccharine but manages to redeem itself with its appreciation for mothers and all that they may do. Endpapers include a “to” and “from” page framed in a heart, as well as a page where young gift givers or recipients can draw a picture of their Mamasaurus.
A syrupy tribute to mothers that may please fans of the series. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781728274300
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2024
A visually striking, engaging picture book that sends the message that everyone counts.
A playful counting book also acts as a celebration of family and human diversity.
Shannon’s text is delivered in spare, rhythmic, lilting verse that begins with one and counts up to 10 as it presents different groupings of things and people in individual families, always emphasizing the unitary nature of each combination. “One is six. One line of laundry. One butterfly’s legs. One family.” Gomez’s richly colored pictures clarify and expand on all that the text lists: For “six,” a picture showing six members of a multigenerational family of color includes a line of laundry with six items hanging from it outside of their windows, as well as the painting of a six-legged butterfly that a child in the family is creating. While text never directs the art to depict diverse individuals and family constellations, Gomez does just this in her illustrations. Interracial families are included, as are depictions of men with their arms around each other, and a Sikh man wearing a turban. This inclusive spirit supports the text’s culminating assertion that “One is one and everyone. One earth. One world. One family.”
A visually striking, engaging picture book that sends the message that everyone counts. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 26, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-374-30003-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Frances Foster/Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2015
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