I am woman, hear me peep
When a bespectacled yellow chick arrives, toy rocket under one wing, at the coop that houses the Rocket Club (“the coolest club in the galaxy”) to find a “No Chicks Allowed!!!” sign, it spawns a feathered revolution.
As she stalks past “Cool chicks and nerdy chicks / Quiet chicks and wordy chicks / Biker chicks and rocker chicks / Science chicks and soccer chicks” standing outside other clubhouse-coops with similarly unwelcoming signs, they begin to fall in line after her till she’s got a mammoth following. Dressed in all sorts of outfits that indicate their professions and interests and carrying placards (“NO MORE”; “Enough Is Enough”; “Give Chicks a Chance,” reads one held aloft by a hijabi chick), they arrive at a large white barn, where they are rebuffed again. “But chicks are strong and chicks are smart,” and working together they build a real rocket that proves that “Chicks can conquer anything!” Appropriately for her theme, Bardhan-Quallen’s rhyming text has the rhythmic quality of a chant. Kurilla supplies paneled pictures of stubby little chicks of many colors, all frowning adorably with determination. Of course, for the joke to work, caregivers will have to explain to young readers that “chick” is a sexist term for “woman,” which takes some of the air out of it. Nevertheless, there’s no questioning its energy.
I am woman, hear me peep . (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Feb. 12, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3414-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2019
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it.
What happens when a robot washes up alone on an island?
“Everything was just right on the island.” Brown beautifully re-creates the first days of Roz, the protagonist of his Wild Robot novels, as she adapts to living in the natural world. A storm-tossed ship, seen in the opening just before the title page, and a packing crate are the only other human-made objects to appear in this close-up look at the robot and her new home. Roz emerges from the crate, and her first thought as she sets off up a grassy hill—”This must be where I belong”—is sweetly glorious, a note of recognition rather than conquest. Roz learns to move, hide, and communicate like the creatures she meets. When she discovers an orphaned egg—and the gosling Brightbill, who eventually hatches—her decision to be his mother seems a natural extension of her adaptation. Once he flies south for the winter, her quiet wait across seasons for his return is a poignant portrayal of separation and change. Brown’s clean, precise lines and deep, light-filled colors offer a sense of what Roz might be seeing, suggesting a place that is alive yet deeply serene and radiant. Though the book stands alone, it adds an immensely appealing dimension to Roz’s world. Round thumbnails offer charming peeks into the island world, depicting Roz’s animal neighbors and Brightbill’s maturation.
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it. (author’s note) (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: June 24, 2025
ISBN: 9780316669467
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
The runaway cookie in this Mexican bakery is a soft, brown, stubby-tailed piglet as impertinently bold and smug in his continual escape as his Gingerbread Boy cousin. “Chase me! Chase me down the street. But this is one piggy you won’t get to eat! / ¡Córrele, córrele! ¡Y Córrele más! ¡Soy el cochinito que jamás comerás!” This bouncy dual refrain extends the familiar cumulative text, rendered in both English and Spanish, as piggy manages to elude Marta the baker, Lorenzo the mechanic, Mamá Nita the beautician, Joaquín the telephone repairman and a host of other neighborhood adults—until he is outsmarted by Rosa, a little girl on her way to school, who foxily “helps him” cross the street. Safely tucked into her backpack, piggy is both a welcome surprise and an excuse for Rosa’s lateness to class. Deep opaque acrylic paintings of a colorful barrio and its residents in pursuit add the right amount of cultural flavor to this vivid Latino retelling. Recipe appended. (Picture book. 3-6)
Pub Date: Nov. 30, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-55885-586-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Piñata Books/Arte Público
Review Posted Online: Sept. 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2010
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