Sweet if not groundbreaking—and more to the point, sadly, still needed.
A little girl with two dads confronts homophobia.
When Riley’s parents drop her off at school, she calls, “I love you, Papa and Daddy,” as she waves goodbye. This prompts a classmate named Olive to challenge her. “One mom and one dad make a baby, and that makes a family,” Olive avers. “So which one is the real dad?” Holzwarth’s informal, friendly painting shows Riley looking hurt and confused, and as the day goes on, she thinks about her “belly mommy who gave birth” to her and about how she shares qualities with both of her dads, with black hair like Daddy’s and freckles like Papa’s. (Illustrations depict Riley, Daddy, and Riley’s belly mommy as people of color with brown skin and dark, wavy hair while redheaded Papa presents white.) When she goes home, Riley’s parents notice she is upset, and she shares what happened at school. Daddy and Papa comfort her and affirm that their family constellation is just one of many diverse possibilities, and a cluster of vignettes depicts a range of configurations. “But what makes a family a family, if every family is so different?” she asks. “LOVE” is the immediate answer, underscored by an illustration of the trio in a group hug, surrounded by bright, blooming flowers.
Sweet if not groundbreaking—and more to the point, sadly, still needed. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 5, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4338-3239-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Magination/American Psychological Association
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An appealing and upbeat tale about fathers and sons.
A father praises his son in this picture book.
Using the refrain “I’m Proud of You Son,” a father recounts various milestones in his child’s life. They range from happenings in babyhood (“You cried your first cry / I dried your little eyes”) and childhood (“Your first day of school / you played it so cool”) to teenage rites of passage, such as learning to drive. Eventually, the story gives a glimpse into the future when the man’s son becomes a father himself. Spencer celebrates key moments in everyday life that readers will likely relate to. Although the somewhat sentimental story is written in the first person as a father speaking to his son, Hoit’s illustrations depict different people of various ethnicities. For example, the boy shown in the graduation image has dark skin and brown eyes while the boy playing ball has light skin and blond hair. The simple but effective pictures mostly reflect what is described in the positive text, offering depictions of a boy’s various activities, such as walking for the first time. Some illustrations include subtext. Accompanying the line “When new life has begun / with your own little one / my job will be done” is an image of a stork carrying a baby; the next illustration shows a blue bassinet.
An appealing and upbeat tale about fathers and sons.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 17
Publisher: Mojum
Review Posted Online: Aug. 14, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An earnest if slightly unfocused reassurance that wheels won’t slow a cool grandma down.
A Jewish girl and her brother spend Shabbat with their grandmother, who uses a motorized scooter.
Kate is thrilled that Bubbie is taking her and her little brother, Nate, to British Columbia’s Granville Island Public Market to shop for Rosh Hashanah—especially since Bubbie has a surprise! But when Bubbie’s surprise turns out to be her new scooter, Kate is disappointed. She misses “the Bubbie she used to have. That Bubbie danced and took them to climate marches.” But as they navigate the crowded market, the scooter with its tooting horn proves handy, enabling Bubbie to carry heavy groceries and comfort a fussy Nate. Bubbie can even fly a kite in the park, where a girl using a manual wheelchair pronounces her “so cool!” Realizing that Bubbie is “still Bubbie, even on the scooter,” Kate shows her grandmother a book about suffragist Frances Willard and names the scooter Gladys after Willard’s bicycle (and author Klein’s own scooter). The trio board a festively decorated Gladys with a resounding “BEEP BEEP, BUBBIE!”; the last page finds them attending a climate march. The text is occasionally stilted, and the introduction to Willard, though informative, abruptly shifts readers’ focus. However, Eudes-Pascal’s colorful drawings and attention to background details brightly convey the bustling market and Bubbie’s cheery disposition. Kate and her family present White; background characters are racially diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally with 8.8-by-19.6-inch double-page spreads viewed at 52.8% of actual size.)
An earnest if slightly unfocused reassurance that wheels won’t slow a cool grandma down. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Jan. 15, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-926890-23-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tradewind Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
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