A little girl’s friendship with the two squash she grew in her garden (Bernice’s twin babies from Sophie’s Squash, 2013) gets in the way of a friendship with a real child when Sophie starts school.
Steven Green, a black boy, won’t leave Sophie, a white girl, alone. He sits by her, follows her, and makes all kinds of overtures of friendship. But she rebuffs him, stating that gourds Bonnie and Baxter are all the friends she needs. But readers will catch on pretty quickly that though Sophie seems like one huge bad attitude, with her scowly face, upturned nose, and snootiness, she is beginning to see the value of human friends—she just doesn’t know quite how to reach out to them. But “friends” doesn’t include Steven, especially after she has to put her squash in their winter bed and Steven accidentally tears Sophie’s picture of them. But then Marvin, Steven’s stuffed frog, and Sophie’s parents help the stubborn girl learn that “sometimes growing a friend just takes time.” Wilsdorf’s illustrations, done in watercolor and China ink, provide few clues to the question Miller generates in the text: why in the world is an upbeat and happy kid like Steven so intent on being friends with such a contrary girl? Roshni, seemingly South Asian, and Steven are the only two children of color in the class, and Ms. Park, their teacher, is black.
Sophie’s negativity is a definite turnoff, though Steven and his problem-solving are delightful. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: June 28, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-553-50944-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
Categories: CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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A must-have book about the power of one’s voice and the friendships that emerge when you are yourself.
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School-age children encounter and overcome feelings of difference from their peers in the latest picture book from Woodson.
This nonlinear story centers on Angelina, with big curly hair and brown skin, as she begins the school year with a class share-out of summer travels. Text and illustrations effectively work together to convey her feelings of otherness as she reflects on her own summer spent at home: “What good is this / when others were flying,” she ponders while leaning out her city window forlornly watching birds fly past to seemingly faraway places. López’s incorporation of a ruler for a door, table, and tree into the illustrations creatively extends the metaphor of measuring up to others. Three other children—Rigoberto, a recent immigrant from Venezuela; a presumably Korean girl with her “too strange” lunch of kimchi, meat, and rice; and a lonely white boy in what seems to be a suburb—experience more-direct teasing for their outsider status. A bright jewel-toned palette and clever details, including a literal reflection of a better future, reveal hope and pride in spite of the taunting. This reassuring, lyrical book feels like a big hug from a wise aunt as she imparts the wisdom of the world in order to calm trepidatious young children: One of these things is not like the other, and that is actually what makes all the difference.
A must-have book about the power of one’s voice and the friendships that emerge when you are yourself. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-399-24653-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Review Posted Online: June 11, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
Categories: CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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Looking for a spud-tacular read? Starch here.
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Can a couch potato peel themself off their beloved, comfortable couch?
John and Oswald’s titular spud certainly finds it very hard to do so. Why should they leave their “comfy, cozy couch” when everything that’s needed is within reach? Their doodads and gadgets to amuse and entertain, their couch’s extendable gloved hands to grab food from the kitchen, and screens upon screens to watch their favorite TV shows (highlights: MadYam, Fries), play their favorite video games, and livestream their friends. Where’s the need to leave the living room? Then…“PEW-WWWWWWW”! The electricity goes out one day. Left without screens and gizmos, the couch potato decides to take dog Tater “for a walk…outside,” where the trees and birds and skies seem rich, “like a high-resolution 156-inch curved screen, but even more realistic.” The outdoor experience proves cathartic and freeing, away from those cords that bind, liberating enough to commit this couch potato to spending more time off the couch. Similar to The Bad Seed (2017), The Good Egg (2019), and The Cool Bean (2019) in small-scale scope and moral learning, this latest guidebook to life retains John’s attention to textual goodness, balancing good-humored laughs with a sincere conversational tone that immediately pulls readers in. Naturally, Oswald’s succinct artwork—loaded with genial spuds, metatextual nods, and cool aloofness—continues this loose series’ winsome spirit. No counterarguments here, couch potatoes. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at 65.9% of actual size.)
Looking for a spud-tacular read? Starch here. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Nov. 3, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-295453-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 13, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2020
Categories: CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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