A routine outing can be so much more when shared with a loved one.
A day out at the farmers market.
In this companion title to My Day With Dad (2023), this time the smiley youngster spends the day with Mom, shopping and playing outdoors. On a meandering, relaxed walk to the farmers market, the pair come across a park, an art fair, and a jazz band. The joy of swinging and sliding, plus the excitement of face painting, is tempered with frustration when Mom says no to a sweet treat at the market. But there’s soup waiting to be made at home! The art, which is occasionally presented in panels, breaks the action into manageable bites, and the simple text with varying sentence structures will help new readers become more confident. If kids aren’t familiar with the previous work, they may not realize that this is a two-household family, since there aren’t quite as many context clues. Dad does appear at dinnertime (which makes for a lovely portrayal of a friendly divorce), but some readers may conclude that he’s simply coming home from work, even with the line “All are welcome!” as he steps through the door. Ultimately, though, this is a delightful look at a family navigating two homes. Mom is brown-skinned, Dad is light-skinned, and the child is tan-skinned.
A routine outing can be so much more when shared with a loved one. (Early reader. 5-7)Pub Date: April 16, 2024
ISBN: 9780823452644
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
A retro-futuristic romp, literally and figuratively screwy.
Robo-parents Diode and Lugnut present daughter Cathode with a new little brother—who requires, unfortunately, some assembly.
Arriving in pieces from some mechanistic version of Ikea, little Flange turns out to be a cute but complicated tyke who immediately falls apart…and then rockets uncontrollably about the room after an overconfident uncle tinkers with his basic design. As a squad of helpline techies and bevies of neighbors bearing sludge cake and like treats roll in, the cluttered and increasingly crowded scene deteriorates into madcap chaos—until at last Cath, with help from Roomba-like robodog Sprocket, stages an intervention by whisking the hapless new arrival off to a backyard workshop for a proper assembly and software update. “You’re such a good big sister!” warbles her frazzled mom. Wiesner’s robots display his characteristic clean lines and even hues but endearingly look like vaguely anthropomorphic piles of random jet-engine parts and old vacuum cleaners loosely connected by joints of armored cable. They roll hither and thither through neatly squared-off panels and pages in infectiously comical dismay. Even the end’s domestic tranquility lasts only until Cathode spots the little box buried in the bigger one’s packing material: “TWINS!” (This book was reviewed digitally with 9-by-22-inch double-page spreads viewed at 52% of actual size.)
A retro-futuristic romp, literally and figuratively screwy. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-544-98731-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: June 2, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2020
It’s good fun to see this vigorous, involved Grandma leading the fishing expedition.
An Inuit brother and sister learn to jig for fish with their anaanatsiaq.
The older brother narrates the plainly told story as he and Jeela, his younger sister, encourage their grandma to take them on “an adventure.” Their jolly “favorite elder” readily agrees and tells them about the layered clothing they will need. She gathers the tools for ice-fishing, and they all get into the large ATV for the ride to the lake. Along the way, they pass a dog sled and some inuksuit (stone markers). The entire process is carefully described, from testing the ice with a metal probe to making the hole with the tuuq (a chisel), removing the pieces of ice from the hole with an ice skimmer (a large spoon with holes), and tying the shiny colorful lures to fishing line attached to flat wooden planks, or jigging sticks. The digital pictures have an animation aesthetic and show a happy family of contemporary Inuit practicing a skill used by their ancestors. The children share their catch with many elders in the community who can no longer fish. Nothing dramatic happens, and Grandma gets a little preachy (“It is important to learn traditional skills and know how to be prepared”), but it’s clear this trio has had a splendid time.
It’s good fun to see this vigorous, involved Grandma leading the fishing expedition. (list of tools, glossary) (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: June 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-77227-084-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Inhabit Media
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
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