What’s meant to be a cultural celebration is, alas, culturally inaccurate.
What’s a birthday without a piñata?
A young girl’s family, along with some talented farm animals, get cracking as soon as she leaves for the market. To the traditional rhythms of “The House that Jack Built,” clay is gathered, water hauled, paper shredded, etc., until all is ready for the celebration. The girl and the code-switching rhyming scheme from Vamos’ The Cazuela that the Farm Maiden Stirred (illustrated by Rafael López, 2011) return for more Spanish vocabulary reinforcement. The inclusion of Oaxacan alebrijes indicates the setting is Mexico. As such, it’s puzzling as to why “pasta” is used for the glue paste instead of the correct piñata-making term: “engrudo.” The European term “farm maiden” is also incongruous to the setting. Barcelona-based Serra’s inaccurate illustrations further the sense of inauthenticity. The characters present as Spaniards and not Mexicans, as evidenced by clothing and hats. Plain wood carvings are substituted for the fantastical alebrijes referenced in the text. Papel picado banners are depicted as pennants instead of rectangles. His piñata seems to have clay points rather than cardboard. Even the “brilliant bluebells” the caballo picks are European rather than Mexican. To add insult to injury, the glossary includes Anglicized pronunciations: “sor-PRAY-sah” instead of sor-PREH-sah for “surprise.” Such lighthearted touches as the cat ferociously shredding paper cannot mitigate the book’s flaws.
What’s meant to be a cultural celebration is, alas, culturally inaccurate. (piñata instructions, glossary) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Jan. 8, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-58089-796-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on...
Continuing from their acclaimed Those Shoes (2007), Boelts and Jones entwine conversations on money, motives, and morality.
This second collaboration between author and illustrator is set within an urban multicultural streetscape, where brown-skinned protagonist Ruben wishes for a bike like his friend Sergio’s. He wishes, but Ruben knows too well the pressure his family feels to prioritize the essentials. While Sergio buys a pack of football cards from Sonny’s Grocery, Ruben must buy the bread his mom wants. A familiar lady drops what Ruben believes to be a $1 bill, but picking it up, to his shock, he discovers $100! Is this Ruben’s chance to get himself the bike of his dreams? In a fateful twist, Ruben loses track of the C-note and is sent into a panic. After finally finding it nestled deep in a backpack pocket, he comes to a sense of moral clarity: “I remember how it was for me when that money that was hers—then mine—was gone.” When he returns the bill to her, the lady offers Ruben her blessing, leaving him with double-dipped emotions, “happy and mixed up, full and empty.” Readers will be pleased that there’s no reward for Ruben’s choice of integrity beyond the priceless love and warmth of a family’s care and pride.
Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on children. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6649-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
Sweet, reassuring fun—and a story to fully embrace.
A slug longs for a hug and finds it unexpectedly.
Doug the slug would really like a hug and plods on, seeking affection. But a caterpillar, bug, spider, and worm want no part of hugging a slug. They are just not feeling it (might they feel sluggish?), voicing their disdain in no uncertain terms with expressions like, “Grimy, slippy!” and “Squelchy, slimy!” What’s a slug to do? Undeterred, Doug keeps trying. He meets Gail, a snail with crimson lipstick and hip, red glasses; she happens to be as grimy and squelchy as he is, so he figures she is the hugger of his dreams. The two embark upon a madcap romantic courtship. Alas, Gail also draws the (slimy) line at hugging Doug. Finally, mournful Doug meets the best hugger and the true love of his life, proving there’s someone for everyone. This charmer will have readers rooting for Doug (and perhaps even wanting to hug him). Expressed in simple, jaunty verses that read and scan smoothly, the brief tale revolves around words that mainly rhyme with Doug and slug. Given that the story stretches vocabulary so well with regard to rhyming words, children can be challenged after a read-aloud session to offer up words that rhyme with slug and snail. The colorful and humorous illustrations are lively and cheerful; googly-eyed Doug is, like the other characters, entertaining and expressive. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Sweet, reassuring fun—and a story to fully embrace. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Dec. 14, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-66590-046-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
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