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
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books.
Curious about the Big Wide World outside his Sasquatch community, Hugo makes a friend who is of it.
Sasquatch Hugo’s bedroom is inside a cave and possesses the charming feature of a small stream running through it that he can sail his little toy boat on. It’s cool, but he yearns to see the Big Wide World. When he asks his smart friend Gigi if a Sasquatch might become a sailor, she says it’s possible but would be difficult—the primary rule of their people is to not be seen by Humans. Then, in everyone’s favorite Hide and Go Sneak class, which is held outside, a Human appears; Hugo laughs at the sight, drawing Human attention in a taboo-breaking mistake. Shortly after, Hugo’s toy boat floats into the cave with a Human toy—soon, it’s facilitating a pen-pal–type relationship that’s derailed when Hugo confesses to being a Sasquatch and Human Boone, a budding cryptozoologist, doesn’t believe him. How Hugo and Boone resolve this misapprehension and become friends in a joint search for the Ogopogo concludes this series opener. Potter keeps the third-person narrative tightly focused on Hugo’s perspective, and the details she uses to flesh out the Sasquatch world are delightfully playful. Sala’s drawings depict a homey Sasquatch cavern community, Boone as a freckled, white boy, and Hugo as a hairily benevolent behemoth.
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books. (final art unseen) (Fantasy. 5-9)Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2859-4
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
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