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
Emergent readers will like the humor in little Pip’s pointed requests, and more engaging adventures for Otto and Pip will be...
In his third beginning reader about Otto the robot, Milgrim (See Otto, 2002, etc.) introduces another new friend for Otto, a little mouse named Pip.
The simple plot involves a large balloon that Otto kindly shares with Pip after the mouse has a rather funny pointing attack. (Pip seems to be in that I-point-and-I-want-it phase common with one-year-olds.) The big purple balloon is large enough to carry Pip up and away over the clouds, until Pip runs into Zee the bee. (“Oops, there goes Pip.”) Otto flies a plane up to rescue Pip (“Hurry, Otto, Hurry”), but they crash (and splash) in front of some hippos with another big balloon, and the story ends as it begins, with a droll “See Pip point.” Milgrim again succeeds in the difficult challenge of creating a real, funny story with just a few simple words. His illustrations utilize lots of motion and basic geometric shapes with heavy black outlines, all against pastel backgrounds with text set in an extra-large typeface.
Emergent readers will like the humor in little Pip’s pointed requests, and more engaging adventures for Otto and Pip will be welcome additions to the limited selection of funny stories for children just beginning to read. (Easy reader. 5-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-689-85116-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2003
An entertaining, if light, addition to the growing shelf of celebrity-authored picture books.
Actor and author Witherspoon makes her picture-book debut.
Betty, a light-skinned, bespectacled child with blond pigtails, was born busy. Constantly in motion, Betty builds big block towers, cartwheels around the house (underfoot, of course), and plays with the family’s “fantabulous” dog, Frank, who is stinky and dirty. That leads to a big, busy, bright idea that, predictably, caroms toward calamity yet drags along enough hilarity to be entertaining. With a little help from best friend Mae (light-skinned with dark hair), the catastrophe turns into a lucrative dog-washing business. Busy Betty is once again ready to rush off to the next big thing. Yan uses vivid, pastel colors for a spread of a group of diverse kids bringing their dogs to be washed, helping out, and having fun, while the grown-ups are muted and relegated to the background. Extreme angles in several of the illustrations effectively convey a sense of perpetual motion and heighten the story’s tension, drawing readers in. An especially effective, glitter-strewn spread portrays Frank looming large and seemingly running off the page while Betty looks on, stricken at the ensuing mess. Though it’s a familiar and easily resolved story, Witherspoon’s rollicking text never holds back, replete with amusing phrases such as “sweet cinnamon biscuits,” “bouncing biscuits,” and “busted biscuits.” As Betty says, “Being busy is a great way to be.” Young readers are sure to agree. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
An entertaining, if light, addition to the growing shelf of celebrity-authored picture books. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-46588-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Flamingo Books
Review Posted Online: July 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2022
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