A strong story for dandelion lovers—and readers seeking ways to discuss discrimination.
A young dandelion activist makes the case for valuing the common flower at a human town hall meeting in this illustrated children’s book.
Dandi Ade’ McLion is proud of her dandelion heritage. While Dandi is generally happy, she becomes sad thinking about how humans have a prejudice against dandelions. Dandi’s mama encourages her to use her voice, and though at first the flower isn’t sure how to speak to humans, she soon comes up with an idea. The tiny plant decides to present her case at a town hall meeting, explaining the virtues of dandelions. She asserts: “I’m sure if you knew more about us you’d treat us much nicer!” Dandi shares how humans used to value dandelions, how their roots help lawns and prevent erosion, and how their puffball seeds bring joy. She extols the dandelions’ powers of pollination and even notes that they are edible and healthy for humans. Her impassioned speech (tempered by a deep breath to keep her anger out of her words) causes members of the human community to become dandelion allies. McLaurin mixes science and advocacy in a kid-friendly story. The author uses challenging vocabulary words for emergent readers, many of which are defined in the glossary at the end, but couches them in a way that makes them understandable from the context. Unfortunately, a shift from past tense to present in the middle of the tale may puzzle newly independent readers. Still, Dandi’s speech and actions—supporting better treatment of dandelions—double as a way to discuss human issues, including facing prejudice or simply encountering adults who fail to listen to children unless the kids speak up for themselves. Dandi’s intriguing perspective as a talking plant, with roots that can grow up to 15 feet deep but who can also walk to a meeting, requires a healthy suspension of disbelief. Hider’s soft-edged cartoon illustrations help, giving Dandi leaf arms that allow movement. The pictures capture Dandi’s enthusiasm and efforts, creating a hero whom young readers will identify with.
A strong story for dandelion lovers—and readers seeking ways to discuss discrimination.Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-73648-202-5
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Khemrah Publishing, LLC
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
Good Guys and Bad get just deserts in the end, and Stanley gets plenty of opportunities to display pluck and valor in this...
Sentenced to a brutal juvenile detention camp for a crime he didn't commit, a wimpy teenager turns four generations of bad family luck around in this sunburnt tale of courage, obsession, and buried treasure from Sachar (Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger, 1995, etc.).
Driven mad by the murder of her black beau, a schoolteacher turns on the once-friendly, verdant town of Green Lake, Texas, becomes feared bandit Kissin' Kate Barlow, and dies, laughing, without revealing where she buried her stash. A century of rainless years later, lake and town are memories—but, with the involuntary help of gangs of juvenile offenders, the last descendant of the last residents is still digging. Enter Stanley Yelnats IV, great-grandson of one of Kissin' Kate's victims and the latest to fall to the family curse of being in the wrong place at the wrong time; under the direction of The Warden, a woman with rattlesnake venom polish on her long nails, Stanley and each of his fellow inmates dig a hole a day in the rock-hard lake bed. Weeks of punishing labor later, Stanley digs up a clue, but is canny enough to conceal the information of which hole it came from. Through flashbacks, Sachar weaves a complex net of hidden relationships and well-timed revelations as he puts his slightly larger-than-life characters under a sun so punishing that readers will be reaching for water bottles.
Good Guys and Bad get just deserts in the end, and Stanley gets plenty of opportunities to display pluck and valor in this rugged, engrossing adventure. (Fiction. 9-13)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1998
ISBN: 978-0-374-33265-5
Page Count: 233
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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