Jensen’s tour through time is a tour de force.
Travel back through time to see how the landscape in a Colorado neighborhood evolves through the ages.
As the story opens on a luminous full-bleed spread of the Rockies, a child narrator reflects: “I see the mountains from my house…But my house wasn’t always here.” With that revelation, debut author Jensen invites readers to consider that history happens under their own feet. The book then moves backward chronologically. Some jumps are short, showing the house being constructed “two years ago.” Others, like a scene set 66 million years in the past that depicts Triceratops and Edmontosauruses roaming tropical jungles, are staggering. Beyond the fascinating geological shifts, Jensen also unflinchingly addresses Colorado’s thorny human history. The Homestead Act of 1862 led to settlers establishing “cabins and corrals…built on stolen land” belonging to the Ute tribe. A final stop “one billion years ago” brings the narrative full circle as a frenetic page of tectonic activity shows the majestic mountains that opened the book first “burst[ing] through the earth.” Ngai’s precisely lined, radiant mixed-media illustrations pull readers into each moment, from an image of an unperturbed cow gazing outward to sepia-tinged depictions of the Ute camp and an exquisite rainbow scratchboard revealing shadows of the past. Complex yet comprehensible and suffused with rich science and social science content, including an excellent glossary, this is an invaluable resource for educators and curious youngsters alike.
Jensen’s tour through time is a tour de force. (author’s note, websites, bibliography) (Informational picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2025
ISBN: 9780823452231
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Neal Porter/Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2025
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
Quietly contemplative and thoroughly lovely.
A child finds adventure and a change of perspective on a dreary day.
Clouds cover everything in a palette of unending gray, creating a sense of ennui and gloom. A child stands alone, head down, feeling as gray as the day, and decides to ride through town on an old bike. Pops of color throughout the grayscale illustrations go unnoticed—there are yellow leaves scattered about, and the parking lot is filled with bright yellow buses, but this child, who has skin the grayish white of the page, sees only the empty playground, creaky swings, a sad merry-go-round, and lonely seesaws. But look—there’s a narrow winding path just beyond the fence, something to explore. There are things to be noticed, leaves to be crunched, and discoveries to be made. Imagination takes over, along with senses of wonderment and calm, as the child watches a large blue bird fly over the area. The ride home is quite different, joyful and filled with color previously ignored, reaffirming the change in the rider’s outlook. The descriptive, spare text filled with imagery and onomatopoeia is well aligned with well-rendered art highlighting all the colors that brighten the not-so-gray day and allowing readers to see what the protagonist struggles to understand, that “anything can happen…on a gray day.” (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Quietly contemplative and thoroughly lovely. (Picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781797210896
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: June 8, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
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