A celebration of family, culture, and the healing power of homemade empanadas.
It’s Mami’s first birthday without Grandma Monona.
Sebi and Star want to help Mami have a wonderful day, even though they all miss Monona, who’s recently died. Younger sibling Sebi suggests they make empanadas for Mami while she’s at work, just like Grandma Monona used to do. The kids and Papi crack open the recipe box and get started but are stumped when the recipe reads “a pinch of this” and “a dash of that” and then refers to a mysterious “secret ingredient.” Hoping that a shopping trip will inspire them, they walk to the market. A friendly neighbor calls the empanadas “pockets of love” and explains to Star that every country has its own version of a stuffed-dough comfort food. Even though the form and filling differ, they’re all “filled with love and a taste from home.” The family members finish their shopping and start cooking, and Mami’s delighted by the homemade empanadas. The family realizes that the secret ingredient was love all along. Cozy illustrations feel like a big hug, full of delicious details such as examples of other cuisines from around the world. The heartwarming tale beautifully depicts how love and tradition can create new memories, even in the face of loss. Sebi and Star, as well as their family and most neighbors, have brown skin and brown hair; the use of Spanish cues the family as Latine.
A celebration of family, culture, and the healing power of homemade empanadas. (author’s note, recipes) (Picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2024
ISBN: 9780063234970
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2024
A tale of mutual adoration that hits a sweet note.
Little Honey Bunny Funnybunny loves baseball almost as much as she loves her big brother P.J.—though it’s a close-run thing.
Readers familiar with the pranks P.J. plays on his younger sibling in older episodes of the series (most illustrated by Roger Bollen) will be amused—and perhaps a little confused—to see him in the role of perfect big brother after meeting his swaddled little sister for the first time in mama’s lap. But here, along with being a constant companion and “always happy to see her,” he cements his heroic status in her eyes by hitting a home run for his baseball team and then patiently teaching her how to play T-ball. After carefully coaching her and leading her through warm-up exercises, he even sits in the stands, loudly cheering her on as she scores the winning run in her own very first game. “‘You are the best brother a bunny could ever have!’” she burbles. This tale’s a tad blander compared with others centered on P.J. and his sister, but it’s undeniably cheery, with text well structured for burgeoning readers. The all-smiles animal cast in Bowers’ cartoon art features a large and diversely hued family of bunnies sporting immense floppy ears as well as a multispecies crowd of furry onlookers equally varied of color, with one spectator in a wheelchair.
A tale of mutual adoration that hits a sweet note. (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: Jan. 6, 2026
ISBN: 9798217032464
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
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