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DRAGONFLY KITES

Name: DRAGONFLY KITES
Author: Tomson Highway
ISBN: 978-1-89725-263-5

From the Magical Songs of the North series , Vol. 2

by Tomson Highway ; illustrated by Julie Flett ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2016

At once a celebration of heritage, the wilderness, and imagination, this book is a breath of fresh northern air.

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A bilingual English/Cree picture book describes the lakeside summer idylls of brothers Joe and Cody.

Living with their parents in a tent on the shores of Manitoba’s northern lakes, the First Nations boys have little human company, but they are far from alone. There’s Ootsie, the little dog “who was almost a person,” and the sticks and rocks they name and play with. They make temporary pets of wildlife, too: Arctic tern, loon, and eagle chicks, along with “the squirrels and the rabbits and the chipmunks that ate from their hands”; each creature is carefully named, sometimes with an English name and sometimes with a Cree one. Highway’s text is spare and declarative, carefully isolating child-friendly details that brim with gentle humor. One eagle chick is named “Migisoo, which means ‘eagle’ in Cree,” while the other is “named Wagisoo, which doesn’t mean anything but rhymes with Migisoo.” Flett’s equally spare signature style is a perfect match, placing black-haired, brown-skinned boys in shorts and Chucks against dark green grass and chilly-looking blue water. The titular kites are the boys’ “favourite pets”: dragonflies with long pieces of thread tied “gently around the middle of each.” They run along with the dragonflies before letting them go over the lake. The English text is printed in black, with the Cree text printed in brick-red beneath it; both are by Highway himself.

At once a celebration of heritage, the wilderness, and imagination, this book is a breath of fresh northern air. (Picture book. 5-8)

Pub Date: May 1, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-89725-263-5

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Fifth House

Review Posted Online: March 15, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S FAMILY

- BOOK REVIEW
THE INCREDIBLE ADVENTURES OF MARY JANE MOSQUITO
by Tomson Highway ; illustrated by Sue Todd

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TIME TO PRAY

by Maha Addasi & illustrated by Ned Gannon & translated by Nuha Albitar ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2010

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In an unnamed Middle Eastern country, Yasmin learns about Islamic customs and prayer on a visit to her grandmother. Coming from a suburban U.S. home, the girl says that she does not live near a mosque, but she also has not yet learned about the five prayers of the day in her own home—this contrivance sets up the didacticism that follows, but it feels utterly unrealistic. Her grandmother makes her prayer clothes, buys her a prayer rug and takes her to the mosque. Best of all, she gives the girl a surprise gift to help her with her prayer at home. The oil paintings are rich in tone, and the geometric patterns of cloth, rugs and the mosque are engaging, but Yasmin and her grandmother look different on almost every page. This distracts from the story, which, given its evident educational intent, is almost too simple. The names of the different prayers are only given in the explanation for adults, for instance. It is unusual and therefore praiseworthy to see a bilingual English and Arabic book from a major American publisher, but this bland effort fails. (Picture book. 5-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2010

ISBN: 978-1-59078-611-6

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Boyds Mills

Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2010

Categories:

CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S RELIGIOUS FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
A KID'S GUIDE TO ARAB AMERICAN HISTORY
by Yvonne Wakim Dennis & Maha Addasi

- BOOK REVIEW
THE WHITE NIGHTS OF RAMADAN
by Maha Addasi & illustrated by Ned Gannon

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TWICE AS SILLY

From the Ling & Ting series

by Grace Lin ; illustrated by Grace Lin ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 11, 2014

These twins make learning to read double the fun.

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Adorable twin sisters Ling and Ting are as funny and fresh as ever in their third early reader.

In “The Garden,” the first of six short episodes, Ting plants some now-ubiquitous cupcakes, hoping to grow more. When Ling explains that only seeds will grow, Ting asks if beans are seeds. After Ling confirms that indeed beans are seeds, Ting amusingly responds, “Then next I will plant jelly beans.” The humor continues throughout the accessible text as the girls try to swing higher than trees, come up with an inventive plan to pick apples and discover that, as twins, they can read minds (it helps that Ting is “thinking nothing”). “Lucky Red Paint” reflects the girls’ Chinese heritage when they paint their toys red, because the color is considered lucky in China. Finally, “Not a Silly Story” is a clever—and definitely silly—story that recaps elements of the previous five narratives. Ling and Ting take turns telling a story featuring two rabbits, a cupcake tree, a lucky red toy and mind reading. In addition, this culminating story depicts printed, childlike text on lined paper that will be familiar to most school-aged children. Once again Ling and Ting are not exactly the same, as Lin’s vibrant, patterned gouache illustrations reflect their subtle and not-so subtle differences.

These twins make learning to read double the fun. (Early reader. 5-8)