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ABUKACHA'S SHOES

Name: ABUKACHA'S SHOES
Author: Tamar Tessler
ISBN: 978-1-55498-458-9

by Tamar Tessler ; illustrated by Tamar Tessler ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 12, 2015

Funny and charming.

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No matter how hard Abukacha tries to discard his old, worn-out shoes, they always find their way back to him.

Abukacha has “the biggest shoes in the whole wide world,” making them instantly recognizable to everyone. When he has a new pair made, he throws the old ones in the trash. The garbage collector sees them, assumes a mistake has been made, and helpfully returns them. Throwing the shoes in the sea or down a deep well proves equally futile, as the shoes are returned each time. When he sends them aloft in a hot air balloon, it seems as if he might finally succeed. But lo and behold, they float back, and he recognizes that they really belong right there with him. The action-packed tale is told in breezy, accessible language. Employing mixed-media and collage in a palette of mostly earth tones, Tessler establishes the atmosphere of an old folk tale with tractors, trucks, and other modern elements added. All the characters appear in the form of cut photographs arranged with large heads placed on bodies in appropriate positions and stances. In an author’s note Tessler explains that this tale was told for generations in her family and the photos honor family members lost in the Holocaust. Young readers will smile and enjoy and keep the memories alive.

Funny and charming. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: May 12, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-55498-458-9

Page Count: 36

Publisher: Groundwood

Review Posted Online: March 2, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2015

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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WHERE ARE YOUR SHOES, MR. BROWN?

by Justin Rhodes ; illustrated by Heather Dickinson ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 14, 2023

Pedestrian.

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Mr. Brown can’t help with farm chores because his shoes are missing—a common occurrence in his household and likely in many readers’ as well.

Children will be delighted that the titular Mr. Brown is in fact a child. After Mr. Brown looks in his closet and sorts through his other family members’ shoes with no luck, his father and his siblings help him search the farm. Eventually—after colorful pages that enable readers to spot footwear hiding—the family gives up on their hunt, and Mr. Brown asks to be carried around for the chores. He rides on his father’s shoulders as Papa gets his work done, as seen on a double-page spread of vignettes. The resolution is more of a lesson for the adult readers than for children, a saccharine moment where father and son express their joy that the missing shoes gave them the opportunity for togetherness—with advice for other parents to appreciate those fleeting moments themselves. Though the art is bright and cheerful, taking advantage of the setting, it occasionally is misaligned with the text (for example, the text states that Mr. Brown is wearing his favorite green shirt while the illustration is of a shirt with wide stripes of white and teal blue, which could confuse readers at the point where they’re trying to figure out which family member is Mr. Brown). The family is light-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Pedestrian. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: March 14, 2023

ISBN: 978-1-5460-0389-2

Page Count: 32

Publisher: WorthyKids/Ideals

Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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THE GINGERBREAD MAN LOOSE IN THE SCHOOL

by Laura Murray & illustrated by Mike Lowery ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 2011

Teachers looking for a new way to start off the school year will eat this one up.

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In Murray’s children’s debut, when a gingerbread man made by schoolchildren gets left behind at recess, he decides he has to find his class: “I’ll run and I’ll run, / As fast as I can. / I can catch them! I’m their / Gingerbread Man!”

And so begins his rollicking rhyming adventure as he runs, limps, slides and skips his way through the school, guided on his way by the friendly teachers he meets. Flattened by a volleyball near the gym, he gets his broken toe fixed by the kindly nurse and then slides down the railing into the art teacher’s lunch. Then it’s off to the principal’s office, where he takes a spin in her chair before she arrives. “The children you mentioned just left you to cool. / They’re hanging these posters of you through the school.” The principal takes him back to the classroom, where the children all welcome him back. The book’s comic-book layout suits the elementary-school tour that this is, while Lowery’s cartoon artwork fits the folktale theme. Created with pencil, screen printing and digital color, the simple illustrations give preschoolers a taste of what school will be like. While the Gingerbread Man is wonderfully expressive, though, the rather cookie-cutter teachers could use a little more life.

Teachers looking for a new way to start off the school year will eat this one up. (Picture book. 4-7)