Elliptical but reassuring to reflective readers facing uncomfortable life or family changes.
There’s something lacking in a boy’s perfectly organized, perfectly predictable life. What could it be?
With distinctly metaphorical overtones, this Danish import follows a house’s solitary resident through a daily routine that’s always the same. The boy greets the cactus on the bedside table, tends to the neatly sorted garden, irons a shirt, and does other chores before bidding the cactus good night. One night, though, he dreams of falling into a pile of fur…and the next morning scattered shoes, a tipped-over cactus, and a footprint lead him to the conclusion that there must be A BEAR in the house. And so there is! It turns out to be a playful one, though, and even if the once-orderly house is soon anything but, after a day’s romp the two companions tumble together into bed in joyful, well-earned exhaustion. Even the cactus is suddenly blooming. In pale, finely controlled images in neutral hues with subtle touches of blue and pink, Kjærgaard pairs a light-skinned figure of indeterminate age and a massive, shaggy playmate in spartan but comfortable settings. Bach-Lauritsen brings her spare narrative to an open-ended close (“Suddenly, there it was. Just like that. Out of the blue. But at first it wasn’t there”), without ever specifying what “it” is, which leaves the particular nature and agent of the positive change open to interpretation.
Elliptical but reassuring to reflective readers facing uncomfortable life or family changes. (Picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: March 19, 2024
ISBN: 9781592704019
Page Count: 92
Publisher: Enchanted Lion Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2024
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
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