Tuneful.
Precocious, petite Tallulah tries everything to be big enough to play the tuba.
Tallulah dreams of playing the big brass instrument and decides to join her school’s band. Her ability to read music, powerful lungs, and strong muscles indicate that she’d be a perfect match for the melodic machinery. Her barrier: Tallulah is tiny, but the tuba is not. Mr. Greenwood, the band leader, tries to steer the determined protagonist toward a piccolo, but the “thweep thweep” sound is much too small. Tallulah tries everything to increase her size; she eats extra helpings of dinner and hangs from the monkey bars, but the only growth she gets is an increase in blisters and bellyaches. When increasing her own height fails, she employs objects to help her reach the tuba’s just-beyond-reach mouthpiece. Unfortunately, Mr. Greenwood still cannot let Tallulah play her favorite instrument. The story ends well enough, with Tallulah digging a large hole in the ground, which finally brings the mouthpiece to her eye level. Nichol’s chipper illustrations, highlighted with golden yellows and soft blues, match the energy and motion of the story. The book ends happily, though absurdly, with Mr. Greenwood agreeing to let the band play outdoors with the ambitious tunesmith contributing a big “OOOM-pah!” Children transitioning from easy readers may find this a happy match. Tallulah has brown skin and wavy, brown hair, and Mr. Greenwood presents black.
Tuneful. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-77321-307-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Annick Press
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
A valuable asset to the library of a child who experiences anxiety and a great book to get children talking about their...
Ruby is an adventurous and happy child until the day she discovers a Worry.
Ruby barely sees the Worry—depicted as a blob of yellow with a frowny unibrow—at first, but as it hovers, the more she notices it and the larger it grows. The longer Ruby is affected by this Worry, the fewer colors appear on the page. Though she tries not to pay attention to the Worry, which no one else can see, ignoring it prevents her from enjoying the things that she once loved. Her constant anxiety about the Worry causes the bright yellow blob to crowd Ruby’s everyday life, which by this point is nearly all washes of gray and white. But at the playground, Ruby sees a boy sitting on a bench with a growing sky-blue Worry of his own. When she invites the boy to talk, his Worry begins to shrink—and when Ruby talks about her own Worry, it also grows smaller. By the book’s conclusion, Ruby learns to control her Worry by talking about what worries her, a priceless lesson for any child—or adult—conveyed in a beautifully child-friendly manner. Ruby presents black, with hair in cornrows and two big afro-puff pigtails, while the boy has pale skin and spiky black hair.
A valuable asset to the library of a child who experiences anxiety and a great book to get children talking about their feelings (. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5476-0237-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
Making friends isn’t always this easy and convenient.
How do you make a new friend when an old one moves away?
Buddy (from Sorry, Grown-Ups, You Can’t Go to School, 2019, etc.) is feeling lonely. His best friend just moved across town. To make matters worse, there is a field trip coming up, and Buddy needs a bus partner. His sister, Lady, has some helpful advice for making a new pal: “You just need to find something you have in common.” Buddy loves the game Robo Chargers and karate. Surely there is someone else who does, too! Unfortunately, there isn’t. However, when a new student arrives (one day later) and asks everyone to call her Sunny instead of Alison, Buddy gets excited. No one uses his given name, either; they just call him Buddy. He secretly whispers his “real, official name” to Sunny at lunch—an indication that a true friendship is being formed. The rest of the story plods merrily along, all pieces falling exactly into place (she even likes Robo Chargers!), accompanied by Bowers’ digital art, a mix of spot art and full-bleed illustrations. Friendship-building can be an emotionally charged event in a child’s life—young readers will certainly see themselves in Buddy’s plight—but, alas, there is not much storytelling magic to be found. Buddy and his family are White, Sunny and Mr. Teacher are Black, and Buddy’s other classmates are racially diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Making friends isn’t always this easy and convenient. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-30709-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
