A touching tale of an enduring friendship.
A picture book about two close pals who celebrate their precious time together.
Vee and Sanaa are best friends who often play under a neighborhood mango tree and enjoy juicy mangos: “ ‘Under the mango tree, we will always be,’ the girls promised.” Truly carefree and joyful, the young girls share secrets, watch ants climb and “blackbirds squabble,” and make up stories about the animals they see in clouds’ shapes. One afternoon, Vee tells Sanaa that her family’s moving; under the mango tree, they promise “to keep each other forever in their hearts.” Later, Sanaa misses all the things she and Vee did together, but one day, she notices a heart they carved into the tree with their names inside and recalls the promise. Mark crafts a heartwarming tale of friendship and strong bonds, and her use of vivid, active language amplifies the powerful, enduring friendship at the heart of the narrative: “They swung so much they would often soar to the skies, get dizzy, and CRASH into the grass below, exploding into fits of laughter.” Cloud’s colorful cartoon illustrations effectively augment the pastoral scenes; the girls have bright, brown eyes filled with wonder. Vee and Sanaa and their mothers are all portrayed as Black, with varying skin tones.
A touching tale of an enduring friendship.Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-73512-443-8
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Sugar Apple Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Continuing to find inspiration in the work of Virginia Lee Burton, Munro Leaf and other illustrators of the past, Long (The Little Engine That Could, 2005) offers an aw-shucks friendship tale that features a small but hardworking tractor (“putt puff puttedy chuff”) with a Little Toot–style face and a big-eared young descendant of Ferdinand the bull who gets stuck in deep, gooey mud. After the big new yellow tractor, crowds of overalls-clad locals and a red fire engine all fail to pull her out, the little tractor (who had been left behind the barn to rust after the arrival of the new tractor) comes putt-puff-puttedy-chuff-ing down the hill to entice his terrified bovine buddy successfully back to dry ground. Short on internal logic but long on creamy scenes of calf and tractor either gamboling energetically with a gaggle of McCloskey-like geese through neutral-toned fields or resting peacefully in the shade of a gnarled tree (apple, not cork), the episode will certainly draw nostalgic adults. Considering the author’s track record and influences, it may find a welcome from younger audiences too. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-399-25248-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2009
SEEN & HEARD
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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