Any heavy-handedness in the application of the moral is balanced by youthful art and the emphasis on confidence and respect.
A young taekwondo student deals with bullying in this all-animal graphic-novel offering co-published by the American Taekwondo Association.
Young tiger Baeoh finds himself the target of a trio of lunch-stealing jackals who pick on him outside of class. While his fellow animal students clearly know what’s going on, he stubbornly denies it, lying about his vulnerability and refusing help. Ironically, he also fails to see his own bullying treatment of his new training partner, an intellectual bear named Karhu, until other students point it out to him and even Karhu stands up to Baeoh. The story climaxes on Buddy Day; Baeoh’s lies have obliged him to invite the jackals, and Baeoh finally takes his own stand in a brief physical confrontation. The character designs feature large heads, bold lines, and animated expressions—though some readers may struggle to differentiate among the jackals and continuity is occasionally inconsistent. Overall, though, the full-color art does a good job at providing visual narration, especially in demonstrating brown-belt cobra Narsha’s legless tail “kicks.” Profiles in the backmatter give a rundown on all Team Taekwondo members. Befitting taekwondo’s origins, they all seem to have Korean names. They speak colloquial English, and other characters have Western names.
Any heavy-handedness in the application of the moral is balanced by youthful art and the emphasis on confidence and respect. (Graphic fantasy. 6-10)Pub Date: April 17, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-62336-947-7
Page Count: 108
Publisher: Rodale Kids
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
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
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode.
A long-running series reaches its closing chapters.
Having, as Kline notes in her warm valedictory acknowledgements, taken 30 years to get through second and third grade, Harry Spooger is overdue to move on—but not just into fourth grade, it turns out, as his family is moving to another town as soon as the school year ends. The news leaves his best friend, narrator “Dougo,” devastated…particularly as Harry doesn’t seem all that fussed about it. With series fans in mind, the author takes Harry through a sort of last-day-of-school farewell tour. From his desk he pulls a burned hot dog and other items that featured in past episodes, says goodbye to Song Lee and other classmates, and even (for the first time ever) leads Doug and readers into his house and memento-strewn room for further reminiscing. Of course, Harry isn’t as blasé about the move as he pretends, and eyes aren’t exactly dry when he departs. But hardly is he out of sight before Doug is meeting Mohammad, a new neighbor from Syria who (along with further diversifying a cast that began as mostly white but has become increasingly multiethnic over the years) will also be starting fourth grade at summer’s end, and planning a written account of his “horrible” buddy’s exploits. Finished illustrations not seen.
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Nov. 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-451-47963-1
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
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