An earnest children’s story about recycling and self-esteem.
Campbell (Kai and the Magic Jacket, 2012) tells a tale about a baby-food container who dreams of being recycled as a medicine bottle.
As the story opens, Tika, a glass jar, or “Glassie,” full of carrots, jumps up and down on the grocery shelf, hoping to be chosen by a grocery-store customer. Soon, a mother tells her young son, “These healthy carrots will make you big and strong!” On the ride home, Tika is already dreaming about being recycled; she hopes to become a medicine bottle to help sick people feel better. Later, an empty Tika leaps into the recycling container with glee. There, she meets Coby, a glass ketchup bottle who wishes he could be recycled into a plastic bottle, because he sometimes feels bulky and heavy. Tika encourages him to adopt a more positive self-image, pointing out that he made kids happy by making their hamburgers and fries taste better. Later, inside Captain Rick, the recycling dumpster, the bottles make their way to the recycling center, whose entrance resembles the pearly gates. Captain Rick philosophizes, “Your next adventure has everything to do with your attitude. Glassies with a positive attitude are happy, and often attract good things.” Tika gets her wish, and happily goes off to become a medicine bottle. Some readers may embrace the text’s emotional pitch for recycling. The book also offers youngsters a message about self-worth, as when Tika explains that she always tries to see the beauty “in myself and what I have to offer.” However, even very young children will know that big changes often involve a bit more apprehension, as well as excitement. The book’s illustrations by Graham are cheerful and cartoonlike, and depict Tika with an open smile; when Tika bats her long-lashed baby-blues at shoppers, the other baby-food jars don’t stand a chance.
An earnest children’s story about recycling and self-esteem.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-0990375517
Page Count: 38
Publisher: Blissful Thinking Publishing, LLC.
Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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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