A good potential resource for upper-elementary classroom discussions about motivation, social responsibility, and ethics.
Peter has a very good reason for behaving very badly in this workbooklike children’s tale by debut author Brooke and illustrator Soldano (Path of the Outlaws, 2016, etc.).
The story is set in Russia but with no particularly Russian details in either the illustrations or rhyming text. It opens in a town where kids love to play all day long and where everyone is merry: “Even the strange kid who looked like a cherry.” (At first glance, Soldano’s character design doesn’t seem particularly cherrylike, but a second look may have readers giggling over the child’s bald head and stemlike hair.) Christmas is coming, and everyone has a lot to do to prepare; most of the kids try to be extra good so they can reap Santa-given rewards. But there’s one who doesn’t do the right things; he’s “a spitter, a kicker, and a beater” named Peter, who’s aptly punching a wobbly-looking snowman in an illustration, sending its nose flying. After portraying Peter as a seemingly irredeemable fellow, due to exploits that include arson, Brooke promises that the boy’s doing it all for a good reason: he’s trying to help his poor family, who can’t afford firewood. Peter’s dad is a lumberjack, but he’s not physically cut out for the job, and his mother works as a poorly paid maid. That leaves Peter to earn much-needed coal in his stocking through misbehavior: “For Peter knew that toys and candy could be sacrificed / If it meant that his family would not turn to ice.” Although the text includes plenty of throwaway nonsense to create rhymes, including strange hats and a kid with pimples, it also provides a truly compelling examination of the ethics of doing the wrong things for the right reasons. The questions in the back of the book should get kids talking about Peter’s actions as well as about taking care of others in one’s community. Soldano’s whimsical illustrations, featuring large-headed characters and oddly proportioned yaks, belie the serious quandary in the text, but they suit the far-reaching rhymes.
A good potential resource for upper-elementary classroom discussions about motivation, social responsibility, and ethics.Pub Date: June 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-62901-340-4
Page Count: -
Publisher: Inkwater Press
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
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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