A delightful family story that broadens representations of South Asia and South Asian children.
Both the making of and eating of thukpa—a Tibetan noodle soup that is also consumed across Nepal, the eastern states of India, and in the occupied territories of Jammu and Kashmir—sit at the center of this tale about a tight-knit community in Ladakh (a subregion of Jammu and Kashmir).
As the book opens, Tsering, who is blind and uses a cane as a mobility aid, hums, “Hot, hot thukpa / Hearty, chunky thukpa / Yummy, spicy thukpa.” As he walks through his village, he invites community and family members to come and join him at home for a bowl of thukpa. Tsering makes his way through his world on his own: When Abi, his grandmother, asks him to bring her peas for the soup, he “shuffles along the stone wall to the vegetable patch” and “feels the smooth pea pods with his fingers.” Tsering’s invited guests arrive, but just as Abi begins cooking, the power goes out! Abi worries, but Tsering assures her that “lights on or off” doesn’t matter to him. Tsering is the perfect sous chef, and all ends well when the power returns. The pages are filled with delightful onomatopoeia—“flap, thwap” flutter the prayer flags; “tring, tringg” goes a bell—and Ranade’s inviting illustrations detail the life and geography of this mountainous region. Informative backmatter includes an introduction to the region, a glossary, and a recipe.
A delightful family story that broadens representations of South Asia and South Asian children. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-81-9338-898-3
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Karadi Tales
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2019
Teachers looking for a new way to start off the school year will eat this one up.
In Murray’s children’s debut, when a gingerbread man made by schoolchildren gets left behind at recess, he decides he has to find his class: “I’ll run and I’ll run, / As fast as I can. / I can catch them! I’m their / Gingerbread Man!”
And so begins his rollicking rhyming adventure as he runs, limps, slides and skips his way through the school, guided on his way by the friendly teachers he meets. Flattened by a volleyball near the gym, he gets his broken toe fixed by the kindly nurse and then slides down the railing into the art teacher’s lunch. Then it’s off to the principal’s office, where he takes a spin in her chair before she arrives. “The children you mentioned just left you to cool. / They’re hanging these posters of you through the school.” The principal takes him back to the classroom, where the children all welcome him back. The book’s comic-book layout suits the elementary-school tour that this is, while Lowery’s cartoon artwork fits the folktale theme. Created with pencil, screen printing and digital color, the simple illustrations give preschoolers a taste of what school will be like. While the Gingerbread Man is wonderfully expressive, though, the rather cookie-cutter teachers could use a little more life.
Teachers looking for a new way to start off the school year will eat this one up. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: July 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25052-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2011
Desperation confused for hysterics.
Harris’ latest makes an urgent plea for somber reflection.
“Stop! Stop!! Stop!!!” Right from the get-go, readers are presented with three rules for reading this book (“Don’t look at this book!” “Do look at your listener!” “Get your listener to look at you!”). But the true lesson is in the title itself: If anyone listening to this book laughs, you have to start it all over. Challenge accepted? Good. Sheer frenetic energy propels what passes for a narrative as the book uses every trick up its sleeve to give kids the giggles. Silly names, ridiculous premises, and kooky art combine, all attempting some level of hilarity. Bloch’s art provides a visual cacophony of collaged elements, all jostling for the audience’s attention. Heavily influenced by similar fourth wall–busting titles like The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales (1992) by Jon Scieszka, illustrated by Lane Smith, and the more contemporary The Book With No Pictures (2014) by B.J. Novak, these attempts to win over readers and make them laugh will result in less giggles than one might imagine. In the end, the ultimate success of this book may rest less on the art or text and more on the strength of the reader’s presentation. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Desperation confused for hysterics. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-316-42488-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
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