A new perspective on World War II for children, but this telling suffers from limitations in prose and structure.
A children’s book about contributions made by African soldiers during World War II.
In this debut nonfiction picture book, Zenobia introduces young readers to African and Caribbean soldiers who fought in World War II. The book is illustrated with photographs of soldiers from Kenya, Tanzania, and other countries, as well as corresponding maps and flags. A parent/teacher guide, consisting of suggested activities and more detailed historical information, follows the picture-book text. Topics addressed include the role of African troops in the Battle of Myohaung, colonialism, and diaspora. Though the book brings welcome attention to an often overlooked aspect of history, it is hampered by an unpolished presentation and a disorganized structure. The writing is weak. The picture-book narrative shifts from a somewhat structured rhyme scheme in the opening pages (“Kwesi’s dad is so brave, so strong, and I knew / How hard he fought to win World War II”) to unrhymed text near the end: “Now you know how Kwesi’s dad saved the world / He dreamed of freedom / He held hope in his hands.” The parent/teacher guide struggles with awkward phrasing and repetition: “Myohaung (now Mrauk U) was once one of the most powerful ancient kingdoms in history. Myohaung (now Mrauk U) was founded in 1433. Myohaung (now Mrauk U) was a leading trade city in its glory time.” Although most of the factual information is contained in the parent/teacher guide, the picture-book text jumps from the narrative to an explanation of colonial-era flags—“Yes, Africans fought under the red, white and blue BRITISH flag / The blue, white and red FRENCH flag”—then back to the narrative. Instead of being a fully developed character, Kwesi’s dad comes across as rather generic, and Kwesi himself isn’t part of the story. Admirably, the book reaches beyond the usual topics covered in children’s histories, but it does so in a haphazard way that lessens its value as a resource for classrooms and libraries.
A new perspective on World War II for children, but this telling suffers from limitations in prose and structure.Pub Date: March 3, 2014
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Empowered Living Initiative
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.
The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.
When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own...
The sturdy Little Blue Truck is back for his third adventure, this time delivering Christmas trees to his band of animal pals.
The truck is decked out for the season with a Christmas wreath that suggests a nose between headlights acting as eyeballs. Little Blue loads up with trees at Toad’s Trees, where five trees are marked with numbered tags. These five trees are counted and arithmetically manipulated in various ways throughout the rhyming story as they are dropped off one by one to Little Blue’s friends. The final tree is reserved for the truck’s own use at his garage home, where he is welcomed back by the tree salestoad in a neatly circular fashion. The last tree is already decorated, and Little Blue gets a surprise along with readers, as tiny lights embedded in the illustrations sparkle for a few seconds when the last page is turned. Though it’s a gimmick, it’s a pleasant surprise, and it fits with the retro atmosphere of the snowy country scenes. The short, rhyming text is accented with colored highlights, red for the animal sounds and bright green for the numerical words in the Christmas-tree countdown.
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own tree that will put a twinkle in a toddler’s eyes. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-544-32041-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
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