A poignant, lovingly crafted tale of identity, belonging, and language.
A young Indian immigrant boy learns to appreciate his mother tongue.
“Born into a language that tickled his toes and kissed his cheeks,” Rohan loves listening to Muthassi (Malayalam for Grandmother) tell stories and helping her prepare her mango pickle recipe. When Rohan moves to another country with his parents, he begins learning a new language and stops using his mother tongue as much. Eventually, he struggles to find words to convey his adventures and emotions when talking over the phone to Muthassi, who still lives in their old village. Upset at losing proficiency in his native language, Rohan stops speaking to Muthassi. When it’s time for their family summer holiday trip, an apprehensive Rohan journeys back to his homeland and rediscovers his lost roots. Cocooned in Parappukkaran’s poetic prose, which cleverly deploys metaphor to demonstrate the power of language, the tale will resonate with all children who straddle two different cultures. Pereira’s digitally layered textures and graphic imagery create authentic village and cityscapes. She makes effective use of stippled blue shapes to highlight Rohan’s sadness, followed by a transition to color as he taps into his reservoir of memories to pull out forgotten words.
A poignant, lovingly crafted tale of identity, belonging, and language. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 7, 2026
ISBN: 9781419780684
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
New parents of daughters will eat these up and perhaps pass on the lessons learned.
All the reasons why a daughter needs a mother.
Each spread features an adorable cartoon animal parent-child pair on the recto opposite a rhyming verse: “I’ll always support you in giving your all / in every endeavor, the big and the small, / and be there to catch you in case you should fall. / I hope you believe this is true.” A virtually identical book, Why a Daughter Needs a Dad, publishes simultaneously. Both address standing up for yourself and your values, laughing to ease troubles, being thankful, valuing friendship, persevering and dreaming big, being truthful, thinking through decisions, and being open to differences, among other topics. Though the sentiments/life lessons here and in the companion title are heartfelt and important, there are much better ways to deliver them. These books are likely to go right over children’s heads and developmental levels (especially with the rather advanced vocabulary); their parents are the more likely audience, and for them, the books provide some coaching in what kids need to hear. The two books are largely interchangeable, especially since there are so few references to mom or dad, but one spread in each book reverts to stereotype: Dad balances the two-wheeler, and mom helps with clothing and hair styles. Since the books are separate, it aids in customization for many families.
New parents of daughters will eat these up and perhaps pass on the lessons learned. (Picture book. 4-8, adult)Pub Date: May 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-6781-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2019
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.
The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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