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B IS FOR BANGLADESH

Name: B IS FOR BANGLADESH
Author: Urmi Rahman
ISBN: 978-1-84507-918-5

by Urmi Rahman and photographed by Prodeepta Das ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 1, 2009

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A is for Ankhee (eyes), B is for Bangladesh, C is for crocodile. An odd mixture of words in Bangla (Bengali) and English and place names is used to unsuccessfully structure this collection of attractive photos of the country that became independent in 1971. Das’s photographs are varied and reproduced well. They tell their own story and on their own merit are worth incorporating into a study of this part of the world that uses additional materials. The text adds a few details but gives a very cursory view. For example, the author’s note says that most people are Muslims, although there are other religions practiced. There is a sentence about “Eid-ul-Adha,” a Muslim celebration, but Hinduism and Buddhism actually get more extensive mention. The book might be useful to Bangladeshi parents who want to show their North American and British offspring their country of origin, but it doesn’t produce an inkling of what life is like for children in Bangladesh now—a shame. (Informational picture book. 5-8)

Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2009

ISBN: 978-1-84507-918-5

Page Count: 28

Publisher: Frances Lincoln

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2009

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS

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A BIKE LIKE SERGIO'S

by Maribeth Boelts ; illustrated by Noah Z. Jones ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 4, 2016

Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on...

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Continuing from their acclaimed Those Shoes (2007), Boelts and Jones entwine conversations on money, motives, and morality.

This second collaboration between author and illustrator is set within an urban multicultural streetscape, where brown-skinned protagonist Ruben wishes for a bike like his friend Sergio’s. He wishes, but Ruben knows too well the pressure his family feels to prioritize the essentials. While Sergio buys a pack of football cards from Sonny’s Grocery, Ruben must buy the bread his mom wants. A familiar lady drops what Ruben believes to be a $1 bill, but picking it up, to his shock, he discovers $100! Is this Ruben’s chance to get himself the bike of his dreams? In a fateful twist, Ruben loses track of the C-note and is sent into a panic. After finally finding it nestled deep in a backpack pocket, he comes to a sense of moral clarity: “I remember how it was for me when that money that was hers—then mine—was gone.” When he returns the bill to her, the lady offers Ruben her blessing, leaving him with double-dipped emotions, “happy and mixed up, full and empty.” Readers will be pleased that there’s no reward for Ruben’s choice of integrity beyond the priceless love and warmth of a family’s care and pride.

Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on children. (Picture book. 5-8)

Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-7636-6649-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Candlewick

Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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by Maribeth Boelts ; illustrated by Daniel Duncan

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by Maribeth Boelts ; illustrated by Angela Dominguez

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by Maribeth Boelts & illustrated by Lauren Castillo

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TRASHY TOWN

by Andrea Zimmerman & David Clemesha ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 30, 1999

Part of a spate of books intent on bringing the garbage collectors in children’s lives a little closer, this almost matches...

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Listeners will quickly take up the percussive chorus—“Dump it in, smash it down, drive around the Trashy town! Is the trash truck full yet? NO”—as they follow burly Mr. Gilly, the garbage collector, on his rounds from park to pizza parlor and beyond.

Flinging cans and baskets around with ease, Mr. Gilly dances happily through streetscapes depicted with loud colors and large, blocky shapes; after a climactic visit to the dump, he roars home for a sudsy bath.

Part of a spate of books intent on bringing the garbage collectors in children’s lives a little closer, this almost matches Eve Merriam’s Bam Bam Bam (1995), also illustrated by Yaccarino, for sheer verbal and visual volume. (Picture book. 5-7)