Didactic it may be, but until our schools are bully-free, this provides kids an easy way to remember to STAND together and...
One of a line of character-building titles, this focuses on standing up to people who are bullying others.
Three short chapters show how the MVP Kids use STAND to stop the bullying: “Stand tall and be confident. Tell an adult if you run into trouble. Act bravely and walk away if you need to. Notice what is going on around you. Display kindness to others.” On a hike, Lucas refuses to ostracize an unpopular boy, befriending him instead. Faith stops two kids from “intimidating” another student. And Leo leans on his friends (much as he leans on his walker) for help standing up to Charlie when he picks on another kid. With its short, simple tales, follow-up questions about each story and its application to real life, and notes for adults, this is clearly meant for use in an educational setting. The notes focus on various forms of bullying (verbal, mental, social) and showing kindness to everyone, bullies included; empathizing with bullies, the bullied, and bystanders as well as using role play to practice responses; and getting adults involved to prevent future bullying. The book’s format and illustrations look like those found in early readers—short sentences and a sans serif font in different sizes and colors. The MVP Kids include two girls and six boys; three are brown, five are pale. Digital illustrations are as unvarnished as the text; this is a book that puts message above art.
Didactic it may be, but until our schools are bully-free, this provides kids an easy way to remember to STAND together and be kind. (Informational early reader. 4-10)Pub Date: Sept. 25, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-64255-232-4
Page Count: 72
Publisher: Real MVP Kids
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute.
Readers bid farewell to a beloved canine character.
Momo is—or was—an adorable and very photogenic border collie owned by author Knapp. The many readers who loved him in the previous half-dozen books are in for a shock with this one. “Momo had died” is the stark reality—and there are no photographs of him here. Instead, Momo has been replaced by a flat cartoonish pastiche with strange, staring round white eyes, inserted into some of Knapp’s photography (which remains appealing, insofar as it can be discerned under the mixed media). Previous books contained few or no words. Unfortunately, virtuosity behind a lens does not guarantee mastery of verse. The art here is accompanied by words that sometimes rhyme but never find a workable or predictable rhythm (“We’d fetch and we’d catch, / we’d run and we’d jump. Every day we found new / games to play”). It’s a pity, because the subject—a pet’s death—is an important one to address with children. Of course, Momo isn’t gone; he can still be found “everywhere” in memories. But alas, he can be found here only in the crude depictions of the darling dog so well known from the earlier books.
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781683693864
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Quirk Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet and endearing feathered migration.
A relationship between a Latina grandmother and her mixed-race granddaughter serves as the frame to depict the ruby-throated hummingbird migration pattern.
In Granny’s lap, a girl is encouraged to “keep still” as the intergenerational pair awaits the ruby-throated hummingbirds with bowls of water in their hands. But like the granddaughter, the tz’unun—“the word for hummingbird in several [Latin American] languages”—must soon fly north. Over the next several double-page spreads, readers follow the ruby-throated hummingbird’s migration pattern from Central America and Mexico through the United States all the way to Canada. Davies metaphorically reunites the granddaughter and grandmother when “a visitor from Granny’s garden” crosses paths with the girl in New York City. Ray provides delicately hashed lines in the illustrations that bring the hummingbirds’ erratic flight pattern to life as they travel north. The watercolor palette is injected with vibrancy by the addition of gold ink, mirroring the hummingbirds’ flashing feathers in the slants of light. The story is supplemented by notes on different pages with facts about the birds such as their nest size, diet, and flight schedule. In addition, a note about ruby-throated hummingbirds supplies readers with detailed information on how ornithologists study and keep track of these birds.
A sweet and endearing feathered migration. (bibliography, index) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: May 7, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5362-0538-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
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