Heady stuff, but potentially thought-provoking fare for budding existentialists.
A monarch contemplates the sole thing lacking from his life.
Having collected all things conceivable, and more than a few things that don’t exist, the king finds himself literally wanting for nothing. In order to finally possess the one thing he doesn’t have, he sets out to explore the concept of nothing. Looking for something smaller than the tiniest animal, the king still finds microbes. “Or maybe,” he thinks, “when there is less and less of something, that leaves you with Nothing?” Cleaning up after his shedding dog, he still finds a minuscule piece of fur. Even the supposedly empty desert and night sky yield, respectively, rocks and stars. Eventually, the king opts to get rid of all his worldly goods; when the book wraps up, our protagonist, now nude, concludes that there’s “really, truly room for nothing.” The large-nosed, light-skinned king cuts a rather childlike figure in Tallec’s spare illustrations. Depictions of the king’s many possessions—“caterpillars on bicycles, bicycles with caterpillar wheels, elephants without trunks”—hint at whimsy, but the book’s rather existential meditations drag on and may perplex readers. The punchline will leave some bemused, although in the hands of an adult willing to unpack heavy themes, the story might well spur discussions about greed and nothingness.
Heady stuff, but potentially thought-provoking fare for budding existentialists. (Picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: March 18, 2025
ISBN: 9781990252389
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Milky Way Picture Books
Review Posted Online: March 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
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