Celebrating human endeavors like these might prompt more sweeping change.
People around the world solve community problems.
In Palestine, a bereaved mother plants flowers in spent tear-gas canisters; in a Rio de Janeiro favela, a gymnast/ballerina/office worker teaches dance to girls (who must have passing grades in school to attend). Under a bridge in Delhi, a shopkeeper teaches the children of poor migrant workers; in South Africa, a football lover coaches young players using a makeshift ball. In Canada, an Anishinaabe activist struggles to secure water rights; in Mexico, an artist creates musical instruments from illegal guns; and in Greece, a restaurateur cooks for refugees arriving on her island’s shores. The spare free verse underscores the positive in each case, and though the individual people aren’t identified, they are named in the backmatter, which offers more biographical details. Simple vignettes accompany the text, with two splendid full-page tissue-paper collage illustrations per person. Combining jewel-bright tones and different textures into clothing, landscapes, objects, dwellings, and more, the artwork lights the pages with settings that are barren but not stark. Why mere individuals should be struggling against enormous adverse odds and whether there are other entities and ways to address these issues are unasked questions. Still, these portrayals of seven admirable agents of hope and small-scale change are nothing if not inspiring. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Celebrating human endeavors like these might prompt more sweeping change. (Informational picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9781771647137
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Greystone Kids
Review Posted Online: Aug. 12, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
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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