A missed opportunity to address the important, and very current, topic of refugees and asylum seekers.
Two guardian angels keep watch over a young girl both in her native Colombia and in her new home in Chicago.
The 1990s saw the South American country of Colombia reach a level of insecurity that forced many of its rural citizens to flee to safety either to the major cities or abroad. One such family found refuge in the U.S. city of Chicago. It is this family, and more specifically their young daughter, Adriana, that inspired this book. The story does not give much information on Colombia or on Adriana’s family, though, choosing instead to focus on the religious aspect of a loving God and the guardian angels sent to act on his behalf. In vibrant, warm colors the illustrations depict a brown-skinned girl with beautiful long black hair going about her life in Colombia, always under the watchful eye of two guardian angels with exuberantly colored wings. Later, as the family moves to Chicago and the color palette changes to a drab gray-and-tan one, the two guardian angels are still there to help her overcome the sadness she feels. The result is sweet, but the device of the angels keeps the story from connecting today’s readers with the very real children like Adriana. This book is also available in Spanish as Los Ángeles de Adriana.
A missed opportunity to address the important, and very current, topic of refugees and asylum seekers. (author’s note) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5064-1832-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sparkhouse
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2017
An empowering and important tale of bravery.
A Black Muslim boy must summon the courage to ask for a place at school to pray.
It’s Muhammad’s seventh birthday, and Daddy has a special gift for him: a prayer rug that’s royal blue with gold stitching and that smells of incense. Muhammad is now old enough to independently offer the five Muslim daily prayers, or salat. He packs the rug before school the next day and plans to find a private place for salat. But asking his teacher for help feels harder than anticipated—especially after seeing mean passersby jeer at his father, who prays in the open while working as an ice cream truck driver. To claim a space, Muhammad will need to be brave, just like his joyful, hardworking Daddy. Once again, Thompkins-Bigelow (Mommy’s Khimar, 2018) has written a beautiful, positive, and welcome portrayal of Black Muslim families. Her melodic writing captures Muhammad’s feelings as he works to find his voice and advocate for his needs. Aly’s playful, energetic illustrations offer a nod to Islamic art traditions and work in tandem with the text to give readers a glimpse into Muhammad’s hopes, fears, and growth. An author’s note explains what salat is, the times and names of the prayers, how it is performed, and other relevant terms used within the text. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
An empowering and important tale of bravery. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 6, 2023
ISBN: 9781984848093
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House Studio
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023
The title says it all: When Baxter hears about Shabbat, when “the candles gleam and glow and dance while our sweetest voices lift in song,” from an old man at the bus stop, of course he wants to be part of it—but how? The young man he meets the next week tells him he can’t: “You’re not kosher!” In pursuit of kosher, Baxter eats kosher dills, pigs out on challah and teaches himself to moo. Finally a kindly rabbi leads him to the truth: “But,” she asks, “why would you want to get eaten?” She goes on, however, to explain that “[i]t is a mitzvah to welcome a stranger,” so Baxter gets to enjoy Shabbat after all. Goldin’s photo-collage illustrations present a suitably goofy-but-sincere cartoon pig dressed in a plaid button-down Oxford shirt and locate him in an urban neighborhood that features an imposing synagogue and a kosher deli. While Snyder's glossary glides a little irresponsibly over the precise meaning of "kosher," this will nevertheless find plenty of use in Jewish homes, particularly among families in which one parent is not Jewish. (author's note) (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-58246-315-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tricycle
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2010
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