by Rose Blue and Corinne J. Naden and illustrated by Don Tate ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 2009
Deftly told and warmly illustrated, this fictional account of an incident in the Civil Rights–era childhood of Challenger astronaut Ron McNair tells a powerful story. Skipping breakfast, a doughnut and a basketball game with friends, nine-year-old Ron hurries to the public library, where he is warmly welcomed. After searching in vain for books about black children like himself, he selects books about airplanes, a recurring motif. An elderly white lady offers to check the books out for him, but Ron decides to do it on his own. It is only then that readers discover that only whites can take books out. In a painful illustration, Ron stands before the clerk, who ignores his request, her eyes downcast. Ron then leaps onto the desk and, with all eyes upon him, refuses to budge, even after the arrival of the police and his mother, until the librarian decides to break the law. Blue and Naden provide just enough text to let the story speak for itself; Tate’s exaggerated, big heads are perfect for showing the strongly felt emotions of each character. A winner. (biographical note) (Picture book. 6-10)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-525-47849-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2009
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by Shelley Johannes ; illustrated by Shelley Johannes ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 19, 2017
A kind child in a book for middle-grade readers? There’s no downside to that.
Beatrice Zinker is a kinder, gentler Judy Moody.
Beatrice doesn’t want to be fit in a box. Her first word was “WOW,” not “Mom.” She does her best thinking upside down and prefers to dress like a ninja. Like Judy Moody, she has patient parents and a somewhat annoying younger brother. (She also has a perfectly ordinary older sister.) Beatrice spends all summer planning a top-secret spy operation complete with secret codes and a secret language (pig Latin). But on the first day of third grade, her best friend, Lenny (short for Eleanor), shows up in a dress, with a new friend who wants to play veterinarian at recess. Beatrice, essentially a kind if somewhat quirky kid, struggles to see the upside of the situation and ends up with two friends instead of one. Line drawings on almost every spread add to the humor and make the book accessible to readers who might otherwise balk at its 160 pages. Thankfully, the rhymes in the text do not continue past the first chapter. Children will enjoy the frequent puns and Beatrice’s preference for climbing trees and hanging upside down. The story drifts dangerously close to pedantry when Beatrice asks for advice from a grandmotherly neighbor but is saved by likable characters and upside-down cake. Beatrice seems to be white; Lenny’s surname, Santos, suggests that she may be Latina; their school is a diverse one.
A kind child in a book for middle-grade readers? There’s no downside to that. (Fiction. 6-10)Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4847-6738-2
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
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by Shelley Johannes ; illustrated by Shelley Johannes
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by Shelley Johannes ; illustrated by Shelley Johannes
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by Shelley Johannes ; illustrated by Shelley Johannes
BOOK REVIEW
by Shelley Johannes ; illustrated by Shelley Johannes
by Claudia Mills ; illustrated by Rob Shepperson ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 14, 2016
Another winner from Mills, equally well suited to reading aloud and independent reading.
When Franklin School principal Mr. Boone announces a pet-show fundraiser, white third-grader Cody—whose lack of skill and interest in academics is matched by keen enthusiasm for and knowledge of animals—discovers his time to shine.
As with other books in this series, the children and adults are believable and well-rounded. Even the dialogue is natural—no small feat for a text easily accessible to intermediate readers. Character growth occurs, organically and believably. Students occasionally, humorously, show annoyance with teachers: “He made mad squinty eyes at Mrs. Molina, which fortunately she didn’t see.” Readers will be kept entertained by Cody’s various problems and the eventual solutions. His problems include needing to raise $10 to enter one of his nine pets in the show (he really wants to enter all of them), his troublesome dog Angus—“a dog who ate homework—actually, who ate everything and then threw up afterward”—struggles with homework, and grappling with his best friend’s apparently uncaring behavior toward a squirrel. Serious values and issues are explored with a light touch. The cheery pencil illustrations show the school’s racially diverse population as well as the memorable image of Mr. Boone wearing an elephant costume. A minor oddity: why does a child so immersed in animal facts call his male chicken a rooster but his female chickens chickens?
Another winner from Mills, equally well suited to reading aloud and independent reading. (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: June 14, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-374-30223-8
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2016
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by Claudia Mills ; illustrated by Grace Zong
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by Claudia Mills ; illustrated by Grace Zong
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