A gentle story that offers support and may help allay some fears.
Overcoming shyness, one blush at a time.
Suzie loves to sing, dance, read, and dream. She performs these activities secretly because she often feels self-conscious—an emotion that’s visually embodied by a furry red creature named Blush who follows her everywhere. One day, Blush joins her in class. When Suzie must answer a question, Blush grows in size; her classmates stare. Blush glows; so do Suzie’s cheeks. Her classmates giggle. At home, Mom—a small figure who inexplicably inhabits a fishbowl—says that “most people have a Blush…Things that make them shy or worried…But if you’re brave and believe in yourself, Blush might shrink and become less scary.” At school the next day, Suzie notices other kids’ Blushes and joins their activities. Voilà! Blush shrinks. Later, when Suzie must stand up in class, Blush grows again, tugging at her leg. Suzie bravely faces Blush, confesses that Blush makes her sad, and asks the interloper to shrink. Gradually, Blush slips away entirely, and Suzie becomes “Suzie Strong, Suzie Happy.” This sympathetic tale should empower many children, though shyness isn’t so easily conquered in real life. Still, it offers hope that kids can confront their shyness, just as Suzie learns to do. The delicate illustrations are calming; red Blush occasionally looks fearsome, making Suzie’s power over it more impressive. Suzie and her mom are pale-skinned, Suzie’s teacher is brown-skinned, and her classmates are diverse.
A gentle story that offers support and may help allay some fears. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9798890630827
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clavis
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2024
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted...
Reinvention is the name of the game for two blobs of clay.
A blue-eyed gray blob and a brown-eyed brown blob sit side by side, unsure as to what’s going to happen next. The gray anticipates an adventure, while the brown appears apprehensive. A pair of hands descends, and soon, amid a flurry of squishing and prodding and poking and sculpting, a handsome gray wolf and a stately brown owl emerge. The hands disappear, leaving the friends to their own devices. The owl is pleased, but the wolf convinces it that the best is yet to come. An ear pulled here and an extra eye placed there, and before you can shake a carving stick, a spurt of frenetic self-exploration—expressed as a tangled black scribble—reveals a succession of smug hybrid beasts. After all, the opportunity to become a “pig-e-phant” doesn’t come around every day. But the sound of approaching footsteps panics the pair of Picassos. How are they going to “fix [them]selves” on time? Soon a hippopotamus and peacock are staring bug-eyed at a returning pair of astonished hands. The creative naiveté of the “clay mates” is perfectly captured by Petty’s feisty, spot-on dialogue: “This was your idea…and it was a BAD one.” Eldridge’s endearing sculpted images are photographed against the stark white background of an artist’s work table to great effect.
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted fun of their own . (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-30311-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre.
Ice princess Lina must navigate family and school in this early chapter read.
The family picnic is today. This is not a typical gathering, since Lina’s maternal relatives are a royal family of Windtamers who have power over the weather and live in castles floating on clouds. Lina herself is mixed race, with black hair and a tan complexion like her Asian-presenting mother’s; her Groundling father appears to be a white human. While making a grand entrance at the castle of her grandfather, the North Wind, she fails to successfully ride a gust of wind and crashes in front of her entire family. This prompts her stern grandfather to ask that Lina move in with him so he can teach her to control her powers. Desperate to avoid this, Lina and her friend Claudia, who is black, get Lina accepted at the Hilltop Science and Arts Academy. Lina’s parents allow her to go as long as she does lessons with grandpa on Saturdays. However, fitting in at a Groundling school is rough, especially when your powers start freak winter storms! With the story unfurling in diary format, bright-pink–highlighted grayscale illustrations help move the plot along. There are slight gaps in the storytelling and the pacing is occasionally uneven, but Lina is full of spunk and promotes self-acceptance.
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre. (Fantasy. 5-8)Pub Date: June 25, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-35393-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
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