A lovely and inspiring biography of a benevolent, innovative female Asian doctor.
A picture book highlighting the medical and humanitarian accomplishments of Dr. Fe del Mundo.
When her sister passed away in the early 1900s in Manila, Philippines, del Mundo vowed to keep her dream of becoming a doctor alive. At age 15, she enrolled in the University of the Philippines and, a few years later, became the first woman and first person of Asian descent to attend Harvard Medical School. With the outbreak of World War II, del Mundo decided to return to the Philippines, “where she was needed most.” After watching families get torn apart due to prison camps, del Mundo worked with the International Red Cross and local military officials to open a boarding school for sick and recuperating children. The home grew, welcoming more children, providing them with health care, holiday celebrations, and more, which led to del Mundo's nickname, the Angel of Santo Tomas. This picture-book biography celebrates not only del Mundo's many accomplishments in medicine, but also her compassion and humanitarianism. The full-color digital illustrations depict details of Filipino culture, like architecture and clothing, while also beautifully capturing del Mundo’s gentleness and her emotions. A timeline in the backmatter provides more information about her accomplishments and life. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A lovely and inspiring biography of a benevolent, innovative female Asian doctor. (map, sources) (Picture-book biography. 5-10)Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-943431-74-8
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Tumblehome Learning
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2022
More thoughtful, sometimes exhilarating encounters with nature.
In a new entry in the Over and Under series, a paddleboarder glimpses humpback whales leaping, floats over a populous kelp forest, and explores life on a beach and in a tide pool.
In this tale inspired by Messner’s experiences in Monterey Bay in California, a young tan-skinned narrator, along with their light-skinned mom and tan-skinned dad, observes in quiet, lyrical language sights and sounds above and below the sea’s serene surface. Switching perspectives and angles of view and often leaving the family’s red paddleboards just tiny dots bobbing on distant swells, Neal’s broad seascapes depict in precise detail bat stars and anchovies, kelp bass, and sea otters going about their business amid rocky formations and the swaying fronds of kelp…and, further out, graceful moon jellies and—thrillingly—massive whales in open waters beneath gliding pelicans and other shorebirds. After returning to the beach at day’s end to search for shells and to spot anemones and decorator crabs, the child ends with nighttime dreams of stars in the sky meeting stars in the sea. Appended nature notes on kelp and 21 other types of sealife fill in details about patterns and relationships in this rich ecosystem. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
More thoughtful, sometimes exhilarating encounters with nature. (author’s note, further reading) (Informational picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-79720-347-8
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Blandly inspirational fare made to evoke equally shrink-wrapped responses.
An NBA star pays tribute to the influence of his grandfather.
In the same vein as his Long Shot (2009), illustrated by Frank Morrison, this latest from Paul prioritizes values and character: “My granddad Papa Chilly had dreams that came true,” he writes, “so maybe if I listen and watch him, / mine will too.” So it is that the wide-eyed Black child in the simply drawn illustrations rises early to get to the playground hoops before anyone else, watches his elder working hard and respecting others, hears him cheering along with the rest of the family from the stands during games, and recalls in a prose afterword that his grandfather wasn’t one to lecture but taught by example. Paul mentions in both the text and the backmatter that Papa Chilly was the first African American to own a service station in North Carolina (his presumed dream) but not that he was killed in a robbery, which has the effect of keeping the overall tone positive and the instructional content one-dimensional. Figures in the pictures are mostly dark-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Blandly inspirational fare made to evoke equally shrink-wrapped responses. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-250-81003-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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