This is both a fascinating look at school around the world and a very subtle message to readers to appreciate what they have.
Riding the school bus will lose some of its allure and excitement but not its value for readers after seeing how kids around the world get to school.
McCarney points out that not all children who want to get an education are able to. But for those that can, getting there can be a challenge. Full-color photographs of children’s journeys fill the pages. These are labeled with the country, though the black text against mostly dark backgrounds makes them difficult (and a few times impossible) to read. The U.S. is first: a Caucasian boy with a backpack and lunchbox stretches a foot up to board an iconic bus. Some children in Cambodia and Indonesia use boats to get to school. In Nepal and Colombia, students may use a rope and a zip line–like apparatus to “fly across” obstacles. Donkeys, oxen, water buffalo, and dog teams play their parts, too. Beyond the sometimes-dangerous ways that kids travel around the world, what may strike readers the most is the lengths these kids will go to to learn: some carry their own water, as their schools lack this resource; others bring their own desks; and unstated but obvious from the pictures is that going to school in many countries requires a uniform, an added expense for poor families.
This is both a fascinating look at school around the world and a very subtle message to readers to appreciate what they have. (Informational picture book. 4-10)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-927583-78-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Second Story Press
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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