Charming and spirited.
Dynamic visual design distinguishes this tale of sibling conflict in an immigrant family.
Running home from school, Rubina tells Ami (mom) the thrilling news of a birthday-party invitation. This concept’s new to Ami, but the real problem is younger sister Sana, who demands to attend as well. Ami agrees. Pouting all the way, Rubina takes Sana, who not only disrupts the games but eats both her own and Rubina’s big red lollipop party favor. Blackall’s peppy watercolor-and-pencil illustrations hum with vibrancy and a wonderful sense of children in constant motion. Every page shows fresh composition and scale. When the justifiably resentful Rubina chases Sana around the house, the pair of wee figures shows up eight times on that spread, racing from spot to spot like Hilary Knight’s Eloise. Then Sana receives an invitation herself and Ami almost makes her take even-younger sister Maryam along—but Rubina’s intervention prevents that, and Sana brings Rubina a big green lollipop in gratitude. They’re friends now, though it’s unknown whether the invitations that Rubina stopped receiving due to Sana’s antics ever recommence.
Charming and spirited. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: March 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-670-06287-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2010
Murphy’s I See I Learn series continues with two new titles aimed at teaching kids valuable emotional and social skills. Percy’s day is not going well. He can’t find his other shoe, doesn’t want to leave his playdate and doesn’t feel like eating at dinnertime or sleeping at bedtime. Vocabulary words for Percy's feelings (frustrated, grumpy) are set in bold type, while body language speaks to them. His parents encourage him to calm down, stop and think, take a deep breath, talk about it and count to ten. Backmatter includes a visual summary of feelings and ways to deal with them and “A Closer Look,” which poses questions to readers to help them analyze their own feelings and behaviors. Also coming out in February 2011 is Camille’s Team. Camille’s favorite beach activity is building a sand fort. As three friends arrive, they decide to each build their own forts, too. But progress is slow working separately. When they decide to team up and cooperate, other beachgoers stop and take notice of the result. Murphy explicates the steps to good cooperation with insets and diagrams and includes some thought-provoking follow-up questions. The simple, brightly colored illustrations keep the focus on the facial expressions and body language of his anthropomorphized cast of characters. Two more solid entries to a useful, if not particularly artful series. (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-58089-460-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: Jan. 8, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2011
A mixed message shopped in a queasy jacket.
Hemingway’s story of friendship against the odds is sweet, but it has hitched its wagon to a very challenging vehicle.
Mac is an apple, a polished piece of perfection, but he's an easygoing, humble bit of applehood. He enjoys art classes and a slow drift down the neighborhood stream. He likes a spring rain and is napping in the drizzle one day when a worm by the name of Will seeks shelter from the storm in Mac’s head (Mac is pretty much all head). They become fast friends, with Will living in a hole he drilled in Mac’s head. This just seems weird, not to mention painful. When the other apples in the neighborhood start giving Mac grief—“And no one in the orchard would play with them. NOT EVEN the crab apples. Crab apples can be so mean”—calling him a bad apple, readers will feel protective toward the little red guy. And it doesn’t hurt, sympathy-wise, that the characters and settings are lusciously drawn. But still, there's that that hole in the head. Mac also has an image problem: “Mac knew he’d rather be a Bad Apple with Will than a sad apple without him,” which compromises the whole notion of the beauty of friendship. He’s not a bad apple, he’s a good apple, uncontaminated by the pesticide of a culture that tells us only the glossily unblemished are worth a hoot.
A mixed message shopped in a queasy jacket. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-399-25191-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 29, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2012
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