Although a bit pat, the ending satisfies, and the story as a whole addresses many issues pertinent to primary-grade children.
Angelito is not looking forward to the Day of the Dead. Even though he will be with his family when they arrive at the Land of the Living, his anxieties mount as the elevator door opens onto the raucous party atmosphere of El Día de los Muertos.
Bracegirdle crafts a colorful story about facing fears and accepting differences while seamlessly integrating Spanish words and phrases and information about the holiday’s traditions. Angelito’s older sister, Estrellita, teases him about how frightening and strange the Living are. While everyone in his family is excited about the upcoming festivities, Angelito is afraid of what he will encounter. When he gets separated from his family in the Land of the Living, he finds a friend in Pablo—wearing a skeleton mask—who Angelito believes is just like himself. They have fun together, but at one point both boys realize exactly what the other is. Here Bernatene departs from his lush and vibrantly hued full-bleed spreads to reveal a double-page close-up of both boys, set against ample white space, facing each other with shocked surprise. After running away, Angelito experiences a range of emotions conveyed through spot illustrations. Conveniently, the boys meet up to not only forgive each other, but to also play a trick on Estrellita.
Although a bit pat, the ending satisfies, and the story as a whole addresses many issues pertinent to primary-grade children. (note) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3326-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: July 17, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre.
Ice princess Lina must navigate family and school in this early chapter read.
The family picnic is today. This is not a typical gathering, since Lina’s maternal relatives are a royal family of Windtamers who have power over the weather and live in castles floating on clouds. Lina herself is mixed race, with black hair and a tan complexion like her Asian-presenting mother’s; her Groundling father appears to be a white human. While making a grand entrance at the castle of her grandfather, the North Wind, she fails to successfully ride a gust of wind and crashes in front of her entire family. This prompts her stern grandfather to ask that Lina move in with him so he can teach her to control her powers. Desperate to avoid this, Lina and her friend Claudia, who is black, get Lina accepted at the Hilltop Science and Arts Academy. Lina’s parents allow her to go as long as she does lessons with grandpa on Saturdays. However, fitting in at a Groundling school is rough, especially when your powers start freak winter storms! With the story unfurling in diary format, bright-pink–highlighted grayscale illustrations help move the plot along. There are slight gaps in the storytelling and the pacing is occasionally uneven, but Lina is full of spunk and promotes self-acceptance.
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre. (Fantasy. 5-8)Pub Date: June 25, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-35393-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
A surprisingly nuanced lesson set in confidence-building, easy-to-decode text.
A unicorn learns a friendship lesson in this chapter-book series opener.
Unicorn Bo has friends but longs for a “bestie.” Luckily, a new unicorn pops into existence (literally: Unicorns appear on especially starry nights) and joins Bo at the Sparklegrove School for Unicorns, where they study things like unicorn magic. Each unicorn has a special power; Bo’s is granting wishes. Not knowing what his own might be distresses new unicorn Sunny. When the week’s assignment is to earn a patch by using their unicorn powers to help someone, Bo hopes Sunny will wish to know Bo's power (enabling both unicorns to complete the task, and besides, Bo enjoys Sunny’s company and wants to help him). But when the words come out wrong, Sunny thinks Bo was feigning friendship to get to grant a wish and earn a patch, setting up a fairly sophisticated conflict. Bo makes things up to Sunny, and then—with the unicorns friends again and no longer trying to force their powers—arising circumstances enable them to earn their patches. The cheerful illustrations feature a sherbet palette, using patterns for texture; on busy pages with background colors similar to the characters’ color schemes, this combines with the absence of outlines to make discerning some individual characters a challenge. The format, familiar to readers of Elliott’s Owl Diaries series, uses large print and speech bubbles to keep pages to a manageable amount of text.
A surprisingly nuanced lesson set in confidence-building, easy-to-decode text. (Fantasy. 5-8)Pub Date: Dec. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-32332-0
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2019
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