Quiet, rural, magical grief.
This picture book explores loss and memory with a cloud metaphor and countryside backdrop.
Delilah, an overalls-clad girl with paper-white skin, grieves her grandpa, affectionately named Doo-Dad, also white. Soft yet blocky illustrations utilize blues, greens, and browns for countryside landscapes and memory scenes of Delilah with Doo-Dad. Depictions of such activities as building a chicken coop and making ice cream from fresh cow’s milk offer representations of analog activities that might be rare to many readers in the digital age. Matter-of-fact magic becomes part of Delilah’s grief as she uses Doo-Dad’s physical lasso to wrangle real yet figurative clouds. As Delilah practices and begins roping the clouds above her, they turn into Delilah’s nuisances and fears. This gentle narrative may inspire readers to literally look at clouds and also to work on symbolic thinking and social emotional learning. Even if a child is not actively grieving, the clouds can be a conversation starter for scary ideas or for learning how to try again after failing. Despite—or perhaps because of—the complexity of the topic, Delilah’s facial expressions are quite simple. While the story is about moving away from grief, it softly emphasizes the importance of keeping memories.
Quiet, rural, magical grief. (Picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-9996584-4-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Penny Candy
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
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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