A must-read that will remind all kids of just how great they are.
You are your loudest cheerleader.
In a world filled with negativity, it’s important that children say positive things to themselves to quell the internal voices trying to make them believe they’re anything less than kind and exceptional. This inspiring book gently teaches kids to use positive affirmations to remember they’re actually terrific. “It’s with these words that I am describing the real me. With these words, I know who I am.” Verde doesn’t suggest it’s wrong to experience unhappy feelings, however: “I am human. I am allowed to feel. I am supposed to feel.” It’s OK to talk about feelings, too, for anxious or other troublesome emotions will pass. As for mistakes, failings, and other challenges? There’s a positive angle to them, too. This work contains numerous examples of empowering affirmations kids should learn to tell themselves, but, as the preface sagely advises adults, grown-ups should use this volume so that little ones will hear the positive vocabulary they must internalize to be able to affirm their own value. The delightful, uplifting illustrations, created with traditional and digital inks, plus gouache, watercolors, and tea, feature active, racially diverse children, sometimes appearing in groups, sometimes alone or in meditative poses. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A must-read that will remind all kids of just how great they are. (Picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781419770913
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: Aug. 12, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
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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