An approachable, if slightly awkward, introduction to an impactful career path.
Baxter’s illustrated children’s book explores the different ways that dietitians help others with healthy eating.
Dietitians, the author explains, are food experts who work in various places to make sure everyone around them is practicing healthy eating. Anyone can be a dietitian, regardless of race or disability. Using 10 examples of aspiring dietitians from around the world, along with examples of healthy snacks and simple tasks to learn more about vegetables, the book shows how being a dietitian is important work with applications in many fields. (“They can work in hospitals, research, or sports nutrition. Dietitians may work in community health, food service, or the military.”) Kai, a child from Hawaii, wants to become a dietitian who does research that will help people make better food choices. Simone, who has prosthetic legs and plays tennis on her school’s team, wants to help athletes with their diets so they can play their best. Quan, whose parents are soldiers, wants to work with the Army to help soldiers on duty keep up their energy. Tallulah, a member of the Navajo tribe, wants to become a professor who teachers nutrition classes in college. And Ying, who is from China, wants to write magazine articles that will help people with nutrition. Each example of an aspiring dietitian is accorded a two-page spread accompanied by Mahaleris’ colorful, cartoonish illustrations and includes descriptions of each child’s ethnic background, disability (if any), favorite vegetable, and reasons for wanting to become a dietitian. The book also provides many real-life examples of related jobs children might be interested in as future careers. The structure of each written spread does feel a bit clumsy in terms of construction; facts are presented seemingly at random and the information does not always flow in a logical way from paragraph to paragraph. However, with its simple discussions of different types of work in the profession, the book will surely succeed in encouraging all kinds of children to think about becoming dietitians.
An approachable, if slightly awkward, introduction to an impactful career path.Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2024
ISBN: 9798991299305
Page Count: 39
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Jan. 21, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
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