A vibrant tribute to a beloved Filipino home.
Yelena Mendoza’s family has a very special member: the home they live in.
Yelena and her baby brother, Marco, are awakened by a falling palm tree and a creak from the bamboo floor. She opens the window and sees her father working outside. “Magandang umaga!” Papa, who uses a prosthetic leg, greets her in Tagalog before reminding Yelena to check on the other member of the family: their nipa hut, a traditional Filipino woven house built on stilts. She carefully looks over the house for cracks that require repair, whispering, “I’ll take care of you, and you will take care of us.” Bamboo is falling from the house, so she and Papa gather materials to work on the hut. But a storm is coming. Papa rushes to prepare the hut, and the Mendozas take shelter within. Once the weather clears, they survey the damaged roof and missing shutter. Still the family expresses their gratitude for the hut’s protection: “We take care of family,” Papa says. “And that is why the nipa hut is still standing.” Vivid textures and hues depict the various huts in Yelena’s neighborhood. Onomatopoeia (“CRAAAACCKK!” “CLAP!” “BAM!”) is effectively employed during the storm, interrupting the evenly paced story. Larios anthropomorphizes the expressive hut, which flinches and even appears to weep in the rain. A detailed guide to nipa huts and the effects of global warming follows.
A vibrant tribute to a beloved Filipino home. (overview of the Philippines, map, glossary of Tagalog terms, photo, author’s and illustrator’s notes) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781646865000
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Barefoot Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
A nicely inventive little morality “tail” for newly independent readers.
Two little rats decide to show the world how tough they are, with unpredictable results.
Louie and Ralphie Ratso want to be just like their single dad, Big Lou: tough! They know that “tough” means doing mean things to other animals, like stealing Chad Badgerton’s hat. Chad Badgerton is a big badger, so taking that hat from him proves that Louie and Ralphie are just as tough as they want to be. However, it turns out that Louie and Ralphie have just done a good deed instead of a bad one: Chad Badgerton had taken that hat from little Tiny Crawley, a mouse, so when Tiny reclaims it, they are celebrated for goodness rather than toughness. Sadly, every attempt Louie and Ralphie make at doing mean things somehow turns nice. What’s a little boy rat supposed to do to be tough? Plus, they worry about what their dad will say when he finds out how good they’ve been. But wait! Maybe their dad has some other ideas? LaReau keeps the action high and completely appropriate for readers embarking on chapter books. Each of the first six chapters features a new, failed attempt by Louie and Ralphie to be mean, and the final, seventh chapter resolves everything nicely. The humor springs from their foiled efforts and their reactions to their failures. Myers’ sprightly grayscale drawings capture action and characters and add humorous details, such as the Ratsos’ “unwelcome” mat.
A nicely inventive little morality “tail” for newly independent readers. (Fiction. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7636-7636-0
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
This multigenerational snuggle will encourage the sharing of old memories and the creation of new ones.
Hill and Bobbiesi send a humungous hug from grandmothers to their granddaughters everywhere.
Delicate cartoon art adds details to the rhyming text showing multigenerational commonalities. “You and I are alike in such wonderful ways. / You will see more and more as you grow” (as grandmother and granddaughter enjoy the backyard together); “I wobbled uncertainly just as you did / whenever I tried something new” (as a toddler takes first steps); “And if a bad dream woke me up in the night, / I snuggled up with my lovey too” (grandmother kisses granddaughter, who clutches a plush narwhal). Grandmother-granddaughter pairs share everyday joys like eating ice cream, dancing “in the rain,” and making “up silly games.” Although some activities skew stereotypically feminine (baking, yoga), a grandmother helps with a quintessential volcano experiment (this pair presents black, adding valuable STEM representation), another cheers on a young wheelchair athlete (both present Asian), and a third, wearing a hijab, accompanies her brown-skinned granddaughter on a peace march, as it is “important to speak out for what you believe.” The message of unconditional love is clear throughout: “When you need me, I’ll be there to listen and care. / There is nothing that keeps us apart.” The finished book will include “stationery…for a special letter from Grandma to you!”
This multigenerational snuggle will encourage the sharing of old memories and the creation of new ones. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-7282-0623-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
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