A love letter to Lakota traditions.
Two young Lakota children learn about their Indigenous culture from loving elders.
Clara can’t wait for an extended summer visit with her cousin Juniper and their unci (grandma) on the Standing Rock Reservation. The excitement only builds when Uncle Louie arrives in his red pickup with “a large canvas-cloth bundle” and “poles, as long as could be”—the family’s tipi, of which Unci is the keeper. Unci teaches Clara and Juniper through storytelling about “the circle of our tipi” and its connection to Cangleska Wakan, or the “Sacred Hoop.” Nelson (Standing Rock Sioux) depicts his people’s customs with reverence; from burning sweetgrass to painting the canvas walls with spirit pictures, the grandchildren’s cultural inheritance is illustrated with warm, beautifully textured details. Under Unci and Uncle Louie’s loving guidance, Clara and Juniper learn more of their Lakota traditions: drying meat into bah-pah (jerky), beading necklaces and traditional dresses, and the hilarious antics of heyokas (sacred clowns). These practices have endured over time, just like the family tipi, built to withstand heat, wind, and rain. When Clara’s time on the Standing Rock Reservation comes to an end, the rich lessons of her heritage stay with her—just as they will with young readers, who will be drawn in by both Nelson’s moving narration and glowing images. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A love letter to Lakota traditions. (author’s note, photographs) (Picture book. 5-10)Pub Date: May 9, 2023
ISBN: 9781419731921
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2023
A kind child in a book for middle-grade readers? There’s no downside to that.
Beatrice Zinker is a kinder, gentler Judy Moody.
Beatrice doesn’t want to be fit in a box. Her first word was “WOW,” not “Mom.” She does her best thinking upside down and prefers to dress like a ninja. Like Judy Moody, she has patient parents and a somewhat annoying younger brother. (She also has a perfectly ordinary older sister.) Beatrice spends all summer planning a top-secret spy operation complete with secret codes and a secret language (pig Latin). But on the first day of third grade, her best friend, Lenny (short for Eleanor), shows up in a dress, with a new friend who wants to play veterinarian at recess. Beatrice, essentially a kind if somewhat quirky kid, struggles to see the upside of the situation and ends up with two friends instead of one. Line drawings on almost every spread add to the humor and make the book accessible to readers who might otherwise balk at its 160 pages. Thankfully, the rhymes in the text do not continue past the first chapter. Children will enjoy the frequent puns and Beatrice’s preference for climbing trees and hanging upside down. The story drifts dangerously close to pedantry when Beatrice asks for advice from a grandmotherly neighbor but is saved by likable characters and upside-down cake. Beatrice seems to be white; Lenny’s surname, Santos, suggests that she may be Latina; their school is a diverse one.
A kind child in a book for middle-grade readers? There’s no downside to that. (Fiction. 6-10)Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4847-6738-2
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
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
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