Imported from Spain, a daring and useful conversation starter.
A diverse group of animals’ beliefs about life after death correspond to various religions that go unnamed.
A cast of animals ranging from a goldfish to an elephant makes up the artists of the Galaxy Circus, where they risk their lives every day flying on trapezes, eating fire, being shot out of cannons, and otherwise defying death. “That is probably why they talk so much about death, wondering: What comes after this?” Each animal has a different answer. As the animals fall from the high wire one by one, their beliefs about the hereafter are shared with readers. Some believe that we go to heaven, another believes that we become spirits that can communicate with the living through the elements. Ramses the scarab beetle believes there will be an adventurous journey; others believe in reincarnation or hope to reach nirvana. Cat Frida believes “we live on in our creations and the memories of others.” The final spread shows the animals injured but alive and asks readers, “what do you believe?” From the first page, the illustrations draw readers in with distinctive personalities, thoughtful expressions, and intriguing setting details. Bright colors distinguish the spreads illustrating the imagined hereafter settings from the muted spreads showing the animals on a tightrope. Given the sensitive subject matter, the creators manage a careful, unbiased exploration that brings a huge question into focus for young minds. The book is marred only by slight leanings on stereotypical tropes (Fatima, a camel wearing a scarf, is dubbed “enchantress of the desert”; coyote Gerónimo’s depicted hereafter includes a tepee, a totem pole, and saguaros).
Imported from Spain, a daring and useful conversation starter. (Picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: March 31, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-946071-31-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Syncretic Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
Entirely inappropriate for children.
Aimed less at children and more at Southern sympathizers, this alphabet book is an ill-conceived paean to the Confederacy.
Each letter of the alphabet is accompanied by an illustration and a short, often limping verse, most of which feature people and events that will be unfamiliar to today’s young readers (not to mention the general adult population, Civil War buffs notwithstanding). Unfortunately, the text lacks explanatory notes to give these items context and fails to provide an overarching narrative of the polemical version of the Civil War story it seems to take for granted. Take F, for example: “F is for the flags / Of the old Confederacy; / And for Nathan Bedford Forrest / A devil to every Yankee!” No further description of Forrest or his role in the war is forthcoming. Further, the narrator’s intense identification with the Confederate cause comes through clearly when he uses the first person (“D is for bright ‘Dixie,’ / A song we love to hear”) and in verses such as, “Y is for the Yankees, / The enemy in blue, / Invading beloved Dixie / To conquer and subdue.” Slavery is not mentioned in the text, yet the illustrations feature white and black soldiers fighting side by side for the Confederacy as well as a black woman comforting a white child as flames rage in the background. Absent historical context and competing perspectives, this far-from-center picture book lacks educational or entertainment value and is little more than propaganda designed to perpetuate “the South will rise again” mentality.
Entirely inappropriate for children. (song lyrics, timeline) (Nonfiction. 6-10)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-58980-760-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Pelican
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Reid’s introduction to U.S. coins and coin collecting is comfy and encouraging though somewhat short on the history of our national coins, despite its talk of “a coin is a piece of history you can hold in your hand.” The book’s strongest suit is introducing coin collecting as a family activity. Through a narrative in which a boy and his father enjoy coins together, each of our everyday nickels and cents are introduced, and the personages, design motifs and symbolism explained. Kelly’s light-handed yet vibrant and busy artwork keeps readers’ attention on the page, even when the author veers into coin mathematics (which this story may well have skirted altogether or taken care of in one page rather than the half dozen it gets). Since this is a book primarily concerned with U.S. coinage, those pages could have been given over to their fascinating past, including state coins, gold coins, Indian Head pennies and the like. Fortunately, Reid devotes a whole page to the Fugio cent—Ben Franklin’s penny—which is such a piece of whimsical delight, it might have kept the whole notion of money in some sensible perspective, if it had been left in circulation. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-525-47879-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2011
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