A fun and wise little romp under the big top
A 7-year-old girl goes to live with a traveling circus when her mom gets a job there.
Piper isn’t sure she’s going to like the circus. She tries to make friends with Lexie, but Lexie isn’t interested. However, Piper meets the elephant, Ella, and becomes enchanted by the huge, friendly animal. When she learns that she can become one of the Little Explorers, a dance troupe made up of circus children, Piper decides to become the best Little Explorer ever. However, despite diligent practice, when the real performance starts in front of the huge audience, Piper becomes terrified and ruins the show. Lexie, a veteran of the Little Explorers, is not nice about it. Fortunately, Big Top Bubba, the elephant handler, and Ella show her that everyone makes mistakes, and in the circus all the other performers will help. Piper tries again—and missteps again. Can Piper think of a way to save the day? Faris allows Piper to express her turbulent emotions, completely appropriate to an energetic, excited 7-year-old, while delivering a life lesson in how to respond to embarrassment and making mistakes. Fleming’s happy, sweet drawings bring the action to life, though they do little to reflect the multiculturalism of a true circus; Piper, Lexie, and the other principals appear to be white. At the end of each chapter, the author inserts a page of facts about the circus.
A fun and wise little romp under the big top . (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Aug. 9, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-5709-5
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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