Aimed at young readers at a stage when they are intensely curious about other people (and highly receptive to positive...
Unconditional love is the common denominator linking the several families whose lives are explored in this picture book.
Regardless of differences in appearance and composition, the families portrayed at meal times, while commuting, enjoying leisure time, and caring for one another are fundamentally more alike than not, a point that is reinforced throughout in rhyming couplets: “No matter where we live, or our color, creed, or name— / In each and every family, the love is all the same.” (Oddly, given the mention of “creed,” the illustrations are devoid of religious signifiers, such as crucifixes, yarmulkes, or headscarves.) Although there are no multigenerational households portrayed, there are traditional nuclear families of different races, a blended family, a transracially adopted child, same-sex parents, grandparents raising a child, a single mother and child, multiracial families, and a child in a wheelchair. While the text occasionally feels labored, the bright, clear illustrations have a stylish, slightly retro feel to them and truly steal the show. Children will enjoy spotting tiny details in the pictures and following families from page to page.
Aimed at young readers at a stage when they are intensely curious about other people (and highly receptive to positive messages about diversity), this British import is ideal for sparking natural conversations about differences. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-68010-054-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: Dec. 20, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2017
Grandmothers with both guts and glamour are sadly underrepresented; these Glam-mas will win lots of fans. (Picture book. 3-6)
Grandmas come in all shapes, sizes, and races in this up-to-date portrait of grandmothers as young-at-heart, active participants in the lives of their grandchildren.
The story begins with an introduction to different names for grandmothers, including Abuela, Bubbe, and Oma before introducing Glam-ma—a term that may need further explanation beyond the text for some children, as “glamorous” isn’t a term in regular use by the intended audience. Different grandmas are introduced interacting with grandchildren in all sorts of activities ranging from dress-up play and cooking to karate class and attending a rock concert. The implication in the brief, bouncy text is that attitude is everything and that all these grandmothers are hip, happy, and healthy. Some of the grandmas are quite young, unusual in children’s books but a demographically realistic depiction, while others have gray or white hair (but nary a wrinkle). Characters with a wide range of skin tones are represented, including a cover illustration of a white grandma playing dress-up with her brown-skinned grandchildren. One grandmother uses a wheelchair and two use canes, though the canes don’t seem to be actually needed for support but rather for artistic effect. Bright, appealing watercolor illustrations are filled with expressive faces, lots of motion, and clever details for kids to find.
Grandmothers with both guts and glamour are sadly underrepresented; these Glam-mas will win lots of fans. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-15183-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Readers who have ever wondered what it’s like to be a twin need look no further.
All children have “firsts,” but twins have their own special ones.
Two rosy-cheeked 5-year-old “look-alike” twin sisters share everything, but their most prized possession is a bright, striped blanket that stands out from the white background and the girls’ soft colors. Now that the blanket has become too small, who should keep it? On double-page spreads each girl gives her version of the dilemma. A truce is reached when their mother decides that they’ll sleep in twin beds and that she’ll make them each a new blanket. The sisters’ individual personalities begin to shine, as does the vibrant fabric that each picks out, and fun ensues when they help their mother wash and dry the fabric in the backyard. Even with their new blankets—with trim formed from their old blanket—the girls have trouble falling asleep in separate beds until they both reach out their hands to comfort one another in the dark. From newborns sleeping in similar poses to slumbering youngsters sprawled out in opposite positions to the selection of differently colored and designed fabrics, Yum’s deceptively quiet text and poignant illustrations, created from prints, colored pencil, watercolor and other media, convey the girls’ growing independence. Despite this divide—which is both physical and emotional—the twins recognize their inseparable bond.
Readers who have ever wondered what it’s like to be a twin need look no further. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Aug. 16, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-374-37972-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Frances Foster/Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2011
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