MARY POPPINS

Name: MARY POPPINS
Author: P.L. Travers
ISBN: 978-1-328-91677-8

by P.L. Travers ; adapted by Amy Novesky ; illustrated by Geneviève Godbout ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 23, 2018

Lovely and evocative, just the thing to spark an interest in the original and its sequels—and the upcoming film sequel, Mary...

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Refined, spit-spot–tidy illustrations infuse a spare adaptation of the 1934 classic with proper senses of decorum and wonder.

Novesky leaves out much—the Bird Woman, Adm. Boom, that ethnically problematic world tour, even Mr. and Mrs. Banks—but there’s still plenty going on. Mary Poppins introduces Jane and Michael (their twin younger sibs are mentioned but seem to be left at home throughout) to the Match-Man and the buoyant Mr. Wigg, lets them watch Mrs. Corry and her daughters climb tall ladders to spangle the night sky with gilt stars, and takes them to meet the zoo animals (“Bird and beast, star and stone—we are all one,” says the philosophical bear). At last, when the wind changes, she leaves them with an “Au revoir!” (“Which means, Dear Reader, ‘to meet again.’ ”) Slender and correct, though with dangling forelocks that echo and suggest the sweeping curls of wind that bring her in and carry her away, Mary Poppins takes the role of impresario in Godbout’s theatrically composed scenes, bearing an enigmatic smile throughout but sharing with Jane and Michael (and even the parrot-headed umbrella) an expression of wide-eyed, alert interest as she shepherds them from one marvelous encounter to the next. The Corrys have brown skin; the rest of the cast presents white.

Lovely and evocative, just the thing to spark an interest in the original and its sequels—and the upcoming film sequel, Mary Poppins Returns, which opens in December 2018. (Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: Oct. 23, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-328-91677-8

Page Count: 32

Publisher: HMH Books

Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

- BOOK REVIEW
MARY POPPINS
by P.L. Travers ; illustrated by Júlia Sardà

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MY FOOTBALL FAMILY

by Andy Holloway ; illustrated by Honee Jang ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 30, 2022

A heartfelt forward pass from one generation to the next (and the next).

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A pigskin-themed paean to family and family traditions.

As images depict a football-shaped newborn growing up, marrying, and helping to produce another—the second actually dressed in a football onesie, which is adorable—sports podcaster Holloway notes rookie season fumbles and triumphs, team huddles on the sofa to watch the big games, the passage of quarters and seasons, and major life events (like the wedding: “One day you may get drafted / To a franchise of your own”). All the while, Holloway promises to cheer from the sidelines in victory or defeat, to be there when needed, and to give each “wonderful expansion / of our football family” both a welcome and proper coaching. The family in Jang’s shiny, reasonably realistic illustrations includes three children. The verse’s language is nonspecific enough to apply to offspring of any gender as well as adoptees. In school settings and on playing fields of several sorts, the child, at various ages, light-skinned like their parents, joins a diverse group of peers, including one wearing a hijab and another who uses a hearing aid, while the child’s own family includes a dark-skinned sibling and, by the end, a child with, like their spouse, Asian features. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A heartfelt forward pass from one generation to the next (and the next). (Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2022

ISBN: 978-1-250-84715-7

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press

Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022

Categories:

CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS

THE ONE AND ONLY SPARKELLA AND THE BIG LIE

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THE ONE AND ONLY SPARKELLA AND THE BIG LIE

From the Sparkella series , Vol. 3

by Channing Tatum ; illustrated by Kim Barnes ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 30, 2023

An awesome-tastic invitation to have or share thoughts about bad and better choices.

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Actor Tatum’s effervescent heroine steals a friend’s toy and then lies about it.

Thrilled about an upcoming play date with new classmate Wyatt, Sparkella considers her own sparkly stuffies, games, and accessories and silently decides that he’d be more interested in her friend Tam’s remote-controlled minicar. While she and Tam are playing together, Sparkella takes the car when Tam isn’t looking. Tam melts down at school the next day, and Sparkella, seeing her “bestest friend” losing her sparkle, feels “icky, oogy, and blech.” And when Wyatt comes over, he turns out to be far more entranced by glittery goods than some old car. When Sparkella yells at him—“WYATT, YOU HAVE TO PLAY WITH THIS CAR RIGHT NOW!”—her dad overhears and asks where the toy came from…and along with being a thief, Sparkella turns out to be the worst. Liar. Ever. She eventually confesses (her dad forgives her), apologizes (ditto Wyatt and even Tam), and goes on to take part in a three-way play date/sparklefest. Her absolution may come with unlikely ease, but it’s comfortingly reassuring, and her model single dad does lay down a solid parental foundation by allowing that everyone makes mistakes and stressing that she is “never going to be punished for telling the truth in this house.” He and Sparkella present White, a previous entry cued brown-skinned Tam as Asian, and Wyatt has brown skin in Barnes’ candy-hued pictures. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

An awesome-tastic invitation to have or share thoughts about bad and better choices. (Picture book. 6-8)