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
What if the market was closed when you wanted to bake a pie? You could embark for Europe, learn Italian en route, and pick up some semolina wheat in Italy, an egg in France, kurundu bark for cinnamon in Sri Lanka, and an entire cow in England (butter) before coming home via Jamaica (sugar) and Vermont (apples). The expertly designed illustrations in which a dark-haired lass journeys by various means to these interesting places to get her groceries are lovely and lively, and the narrative, too, travels at a spritely pace. The journey is neither quite logical enough to be truly informative nor quite bizarre enough to be satisfyingly silly, while the rich, sweet recipe that's appended will take some adult assistance. Still, fun. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: May 2, 1994
ISBN: 0-679-83705-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1994
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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