A rallying cry to be enthusiastically true to oneself
A spirited young child is proud to be a girl—even if everyone mistakes her for a boy.
Even though girls are supposed to be made of sugar and spice, Ismail’s spunky protagonist is not. She makes a mess when she eats. She rides so fast on her scooter that when it hits a bump, she’s sent flying through the air. Because of her exuberant personality, adults refer to her as “sonny” and “young man.” To which she proudly responds, “I’m a girl!” She refuses to change who she is based on others’ expectations of how a girl should behave. Her strong self-confidence pushes aside frustration to celebrate being a girl, and she makes a new friend who is just as proud to be a boy. Young readers will giggle over the protagonist’s misadventures. Most importantly, readers will relate to her belief that there is “no right or wrong way to play when you play ‘pretend.’ ” Ismail even sneaks in the message that it’s OK for boys to play with dolls. Ismail’s lively watercolors pop against the minimalist backgrounds, capturing her narrator’s energy. She depicts her protagonist as a donkey, surrounding her with a truly diverse cast of anthropomorphic animals.
A rallying cry to be enthusiastically true to oneself . (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: July 12, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-61963-975-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2016
Genial but forgettable.
Even rough animals need affection.
Rhyming verses with bang-on scansion declare that animals who are considered noncuddly still need cuddles: “Despite their lumpy, bumpy hide, / toothy mouths stretched open wide, // just like me and just like you, / crocodiles need kisses too.” These porcupines, rattlesnakes, vultures, sharks, tigers, tarantulas, and gorillas also need squeezes, nuzzles, smooches, and tickles. The animals’ textually described dangerousness juxtaposes with the art, which shows gentle creatures: A rattlesnake’s “pointy fangs” are too rounded to puncture anything; tigers evoke mischievous toddlers; a porcupine’s “prickly spines, / sharpened quills raised up in lines,” far from being raised, actually angle downward as the critter peers meekly out from behind a tree. A shark fin is daunting, and a tarantula’s huge legs crawling out toward readers may startle them, but both sharks and tarantulas have affable smiles and harmless, curved bodies after each page turn reveals the whole creature. An ending twist changes the crocodile into a (brown-skinned) child in a crocodile suit, receiving hugs from a (lighter-skinned) adult. Dullaghan’s illustrations use acrylic paint texture well. However, they have a casual air and a lack of punch that, instead of creating meaningful juxtaposition with the verses, dilute the text’s hardiness and specificity. Sometimes the art leans toward the saccharine—rattlesnake bodies forming a heart—and Colby’s cloying ultimate moral that “children need affection too” isn’t particularly useful to child or adult readers.
Genial but forgettable. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: April 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-451-48007-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Dec. 17, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
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This revisitation of familiar holiday fare doesn’t stand out.
A visit from St. Nicholas with a trip to the barnyard, too.
In their cadence, rhyme scheme, and word choices, Manning’s adapted verses borrow liberally from the original poem credited to Clement C. Moore (and sometimes to Henry Livingston). Occasional word choices can read like missteps rather than innovations, however; the original poem’s “wondering eyes” are recast as “wandering eyes,” for example. Instead of using the poem’s original first-person narrator, this version employs the omniscient third to introduce a little lamb who awakens and observes Santa Claus’ sleigh landing on the farmhouse roof. No one joins her in her observations, but readers are invited to do so as she tries to figure out what’s happening in the full-bleed, rather flat art that seems like something from an animation studio. Eventually, it’s not what the lamb sees but what she hears that moves her from befuddlement to understanding, when Santa (who appears White) laughs “Ho, ho, ho.” As she watches him place presents under the tree in the house, she hopes he’ll have gifts for her, too. He does, of course, and the illustrations show the fruits, veggies, and other animal-friendly treats he puts into their stockings before leaving the little lamb to settle in again to sleep away the rest of Christmas Eve. It’s all sweet but hardly novel.
This revisitation of familiar holiday fare doesn’t stand out. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-7282-0625-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2020
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