A unique, if text-heavy, take on international living, shown from the convincing perspective of a young girl.
A young girl describes her moves to different countries in a debut children’s book by journalist Villadsen.
Rose’s parents are from Zambia and Denmark; they met while both were working in Kosovo. She was born in South Africa, which she calls a “ ‘Rainbow Nation’ because it is one country with people that look different from each other.” She describes how she acted as a baby, and then goes on to talk about her first childhood move to Kenya. In a loving tone, she talks about her friends, many of whom also are the children of parents from two different nations. Rose creates a heartfelt vision of the lives of multinational children in Kenya, who do many things that American children will find familiar (such as going to birthday parties featuring bounce houses and face painters), as well as more exotic activities, such as going on safari to see wild elephants and giraffes. Although she loves her life in Kenya, Rose is on the move again when her parents change jobs. Later, life in in the African country becomes unstable and violent. Rose is happy in Zimbabwe, however, and the move encourages her to be braver when she has to change countries again—this time to Switzerland. The book presents Rose as an early elementary school student, but its text is dense, and newly independent and chapter-book readers may be intimidated by the number of words on each page. Shorter’s illustrations, which are competent but uninspired, do little to relieve readers, as there are several pages of text for each full-page illustration. However, when Rose muses on topics such as adoption and mixed-race identity, her childlike understanding rings true. Villadsen masterfully and realistically captures the tone of a young writer, and also knows how to use details to depict Rose’s life as both excitingly different and utterly relatable.
A unique, if text-heavy, take on international living, shown from the convincing perspective of a young girl.Pub Date: Aug. 14, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-5049-4529-5
Page Count: 50
Publisher: AuthorHouseUK
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The seemingly ageless Seeger brings back his renowned giant for another go in a tuneful tale that, like the art, is a bit sketchy, but chockful of worthy messages. Faced with yearly floods and droughts since they’ve cut down all their trees, the townsfolk decide to build a dam—but the project is stymied by a boulder that is too huge to move. Call on Abiyoyo, suggests the granddaughter of the man with the magic wand, then just “Zoop Zoop” him away again. But the rock that Abiyoyo obligingly flings aside smashes the wand. How to avoid Abiyoyo’s destruction now? Sing the monster to sleep, then make it a peaceful, tree-planting member of the community, of course. Seeger sums it up in a postscript: “every community must learn to manage its giants.” Hays, who illustrated the original (1986), creates colorful, if unfinished-looking, scenes featuring a notably multicultural human cast and a towering Cubist fantasy of a giant. The song, based on a Xhosa lullaby, still has that hard-to-resist sing-along potential, and the themes of waging peace, collective action, and the benefits of sound ecological practices are presented in ways that children will both appreciate and enjoy. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-83271-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2001
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