A picture book with a valuable message of acceptance, unevenly executed.
A picture book that emphasizes love and diversity while introducing children to different types of family relationships.
Over 31 pages, Neal, who has previously written a relationship book for teen and adult women (The World’s Top Ten Worst Men for Women Guide, 2012), shows how large and small families can consist of many different kinds of relationships. At one point, three sisters of different ages—all represented with the same clip-art image—are described as playing together; at another, a boy named Shawki is said to be adjusting to a new little brother who loves to ride his bike. The book’s emphasis on diversity is its strongest aspect, and images include children of many different races and children with disabilities. In one section, the book focuses on the different kinds of mothers who love their children: “Some moms are big; some moms are small. / Some moms are short; some moms are tall. / Some moms have dark skin; some have light. / Some can’t see but hold you tight. / Some moms simply can’t hear or walk. / There are moms that don’t even talk!” The art, however, is often forgettable and includes computer generated, cartoonish sketches apparently taken from public-domain collections rather than created specifically for the title. The book’s concepts may be most appropriate for preschool-age children, but for that audience there are generally too many words per page. Readers may also find the rhyme schemes awkward at times (“It takes all types of people to make the world go around— / Love and friendship link us, to our families we're bound!”). Also, two characters have the same name, which is likely to confuse young audiences and parents alike.
A picture book with a valuable message of acceptance, unevenly executed.Pub Date: March 8, 2013
ISBN: 978-1480075993
Page Count: 36
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.
The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.
When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
A joyful celebration.
Families in a variety of configurations play, dance, and celebrate together.
The rhymed verse, based on a song from the Noodle Loaf children’s podcast, declares that “Families belong / Together like a puzzle / Different-sized people / One big snuggle.” The accompanying image shows an interracial couple of caregivers (one with brown skin and one pale) cuddling with a pajama-clad toddler with light brown skin and surrounded by two cats and a dog. Subsequent pages show a wide array of families with members of many different racial presentations engaging in bike and bus rides, indoor dance parties, and more. In some, readers see only one caregiver: a father or a grandparent, perhaps. One same-sex couple with two children in tow are expecting another child. Smart’s illustrations are playful and expressive, curating the most joyful moments of family life. The verse, punctuated by the word together, frequently set in oversized font, is gently inclusive at its best but may trip up readers with its irregular rhythms. The song that inspired the book can be found on the Noodle Loaf website.
A joyful celebration. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-22276-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Rise x Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2020
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