This exquisitely illustrated story will appeal to contemplative and artistic readers.
What is contained in the heart and the mind is explored in this unusual picture book, originally published in France.
The unnamed narrator, a young child illustrated with light-brown hair and light skin, lives next door to Louise, a child the narrator’s age illustrated with light skin and dark-brown hair. They draw together on the ground with large colored chalk, creating a forest of “big trunks…and leaves of all colors,” which is sometimes “roll[ed] over” by a passing car. (Yikes.) One day, Louise asks the narrator what is inside the narrator’s head. Unsure, the child decides to look. This is unusually—and effectively, given Ribeyron’s collagelike style—illustrated by showing the child literally pushing back the top of their head. To the child’s surprise, the child finds a forest—or rather, a series of forests. A sequence of exquisite double-page spreads showing evocatively rendered forests (described as “quiet,” “shy,” “secret,” etc.) present as visual metaphors for different states of mind. Crisp edges are mixed with free-form lines, exploring the balance between boundaries and creative expression. The narrator goes to tell Louise about the forests, but “Louise was gone. Forever.” This sudden and unsettling turn of events is unexplained, and the narrator, unable to cry, thinks perhaps they have no heart inside. So the child opens up their heart area and looks. What’s within will delight readers. (This book was reviewed digitally with 13.4-by-19.6-inch double-page spreads viewed at 16.8% of actual size.)
This exquisitely illustrated story will appeal to contemplative and artistic readers. (Picture book. 5-10)Pub Date: Nov. 6, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4788-7031-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Reycraft Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2020
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre.
Ice princess Lina must navigate family and school in this early chapter read.
The family picnic is today. This is not a typical gathering, since Lina’s maternal relatives are a royal family of Windtamers who have power over the weather and live in castles floating on clouds. Lina herself is mixed race, with black hair and a tan complexion like her Asian-presenting mother’s; her Groundling father appears to be a white human. While making a grand entrance at the castle of her grandfather, the North Wind, she fails to successfully ride a gust of wind and crashes in front of her entire family. This prompts her stern grandfather to ask that Lina move in with him so he can teach her to control her powers. Desperate to avoid this, Lina and her friend Claudia, who is black, get Lina accepted at the Hilltop Science and Arts Academy. Lina’s parents allow her to go as long as she does lessons with grandpa on Saturdays. However, fitting in at a Groundling school is rough, especially when your powers start freak winter storms! With the story unfurling in diary format, bright-pink–highlighted grayscale illustrations help move the plot along. There are slight gaps in the storytelling and the pacing is occasionally uneven, but Lina is full of spunk and promotes self-acceptance.
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre. (Fantasy. 5-8)Pub Date: June 25, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-35393-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
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