A wonderful book that humanizes refugees through a focus on joy in everyday life, even in asylum.
A resettled refugee kid loves his people’s ways of life and strives to feel at home in his new country.
Joseph’s memories of the tented refugee camp in East Africa, where he used to live, are full of people eating together, dancing, and playing. In his new city, likely in North America, he especially misses the presence of a crowd of people when eating. He tries to invite others to join him and his mother over food, but his relatives, math teacher, and neighbors are all busy. Whoosh, his cheerful neighbor, an Afro-Latinx girl with ribbons in her curly hair, is excited about the food Joseph brings to school: kwon and dek ngor, traditional to his Acholi people of South Sudan and northern Uganda. Colorful dynamic illustrations, including portrayals of food aromas that ignite Joseph’s memories, “white gold” moonlight, and people laughing and dancing, create an uplifting, fun, and energized vibe throughout the book. Featured children and adults are mostly black and brown, and Joseph’s and Whoosh’s mothers wear fabrics with printed floral or geometric designs, including those associated with the African continent. A glossary explains vocabulary possibly new to some readers. At last, Whoosh and her mami join for dinner, bringing food of their own. The kids help prepare a feast where friendship grows and Joseph finds a feeling of home. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A wonderful book that humanizes refugees through a focus on joy in everyday life, even in asylum. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-77306-438-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
A tale of intergenerational bonding to be shared by grandparents and grandchildren.
In talk-show host Fallon and illustrator Ordóñez’s latest picture-book collaboration, an elderly pooch waxes rhapsodic about a life well lived.
Observing Papa sitting in his chair watching TV all day, a young pup says, “I’m starting to think…you don’t do ANYTHING.” So Papa proceeds to list his accomplishments, both big and small, mundane and profound. Some are just a result of being older and physically bigger (being tall enough to reach a high shelf and strong enough to open jars); others include winning a race and performing in a band when he was younger. Eventually, the pup realizes that while Papa may have slowed down in his old age, he’s led a full life. The most satisfying thing about Papa’s life now? Watching his grandchild take center stage: “I can say lots of thoughts / but I choose to be quiet. / I’d rather you discover things and then try it.” Fallon’s straightforward text is sweetly upbeat, though it occasionally lacks flow, forcing incongruous situations together to fit the rhyme scheme (“I cook and I mow, / and I once flew a plane. // I play newspaper puzzles because it’s good for my brain”). Featuring uncluttered, colorful backgrounds, Ordóñez’s child-friendly digital art at times takes on sepia tones, evoking the sense of looking back at old photos or memories. Though the creators tread familiar ground, the love between Papa and his little one is palpable.
A tale of intergenerational bonding to be shared by grandparents and grandchildren. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 13, 2025
ISBN: 9781250393975
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Safe to creep on by.
Carle’s famous caterpillar expresses its love.
In three sentences that stretch out over most of the book’s 32 pages, the (here, at least) not-so-ravenous larva first describes the object of its love, then describes how that loved one makes it feel before concluding, “That’s why… / I[heart]U.” There is little original in either visual or textual content, much of it mined from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. “You are… / …so sweet,” proclaims the caterpillar as it crawls through the hole it’s munched in a strawberry; “…the cherry on my cake,” it says as it perches on the familiar square of chocolate cake; “…the apple of my eye,” it announces as it emerges from an apple. Images familiar from other works join the smiling sun that shone down on the caterpillar as it delivers assurances that “you make… / …the sun shine brighter / …the stars sparkle,” and so on. The book is small, only 7 inches high and 5 ¾ inches across when closed—probably not coincidentally about the size of a greeting card. While generations of children have grown up with the ravenous caterpillar, this collection of Carle imagery and platitudinous sentiment has little of his classic’s charm. The melding of Carle’s caterpillar with Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE on the book’s cover, alas, draws further attention to its derivative nature.
Safe to creep on by. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-448-48932-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2021
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BOOK REVIEW
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