Just the ticket for starting conversations about the importance and fun of making all kinds of friends.
“Smart friends, funny friends”—just two of the many types of friends displayed in excellent photos and simple text.
Whether working alone or with frequent collaborator Kelly, Rotner specializes in photographic albums that explore basic concepts, and she has a great capacity for capturing animated children in many situations. The racially diverse kids (and even a few animal friends) in these color photos, arranged in varied layouts and often on bright backgrounds, invite multiple viewings. Youngsters and adults will enjoy the activities, emotions, and infectious smiles. Disabled children are included in a double-page spread captioned: “Friends with different ways to walk. Friends with different ways to talk.” On the left, one boy walks and another travels in his electric wheelchair. The opposite photo focuses on a boy and an older girl using sign language. It is a pity that disabled children are not more fully integrated into the whole. Gender equality (implied by hairstyle and attire) is given some attention, as in one double-page spread captioned: “Friends who like to dress up and friends who like to pretend.” Two young white boys wear colorful capes; two fairy princesses, one black and one white, wear jeweled tiaras and sport pink and purple wings; and an Asian boy and girl play with plastic dinosaurs.
Just the ticket for starting conversations about the importance and fun of making all kinds of friends. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5124-8632-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Millbrook/Lerner
Review Posted Online: June 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
Adults will do better skipping the book and talking with their children.
Social-equity themes are presented to children in ABC format.
Terms related to intersectional inequality, such as “class,” “gender,” “privilege,” “oppression,” “race,” and “sex,” as well as other topics important to social justice such as “feminism,” “human being,” “immigration,” “justice,” “kindness,” “multicultural,” “transgender,” “understanding,” and “value” are named and explained. There are 26 in all, one for each letter of the alphabet. Colorful two-page spreads with kid-friendly illustrations present each term. First the term is described: “Belief is when you are confident something exists even if you can’t see it. Lots of different beliefs fill the world, and no single belief is right for everyone.” On the facing page it concludes: “B is for BELIEF / Everyone has different beliefs.” It is hard to see who the intended audience for this little board book is. Babies and toddlers are busy learning the names for their body parts, familiar objects around them, and perhaps some basic feelings like happy, hungry, and sad; slightly older preschoolers will probably be bewildered by explanations such as: “A value is an expression of how to live a belief. A value can serve as a guide for how you behave around other human beings. / V is for VALUE / Live your beliefs out loud.”
Adults will do better skipping the book and talking with their children. (Board book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-78603-742-8
Page Count: 52
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2019
A timely message in the wrong format.
This book delivers a message on the power of collective action.
As the book opens, a child looks at a lone star shining in the sky: “One star shines as distant light.” After the turn of the page, the child now sees what looks like the Milky Way: “And when stars shine together, they make our galaxy.” The book goes on to give a number of similar examples to reinforce the message of the power that comes from working together, ending with: “One of us can speak up for justice / And when we speak up together we create a world of possibility.” In the current atmosphere of strife and discord that divides our country, this is certainly a welcome message. Perhaps, though, the board-book set is not the right audience. As a picture book aimed at a slightly older group with an information page at the end explaining some of the illustrations, it might work well. As it is, however, some of the visual references will merely puzzle a toddler—and some adults. For example, a group of angry-looking people raising their fists and singing together may not look like “harmony” to a toddler—unless they know about the New Zealand haka. There is an unexplained frog motif that runs through the book that may also mystify readers. Nagara’s brilliant illustrations portray people of many ethnic backgrounds.
A timely message in the wrong format. (Board book. 3-5)Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-64421-084-0
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Triangle Square Books for Young Readers
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2021
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