Bland and tidy—but a good starter for discussions with budding activists.
In allegorical tribute to teen eco-activist Greta Thunberg, a child saves a forest from heedless pillagers.
When forest animals humbly come to Greta, a very small white child sporting braids and a yellow slicker, for help against the giants—“huge, lumbering oafs” who have destroyed nearly all the trees to build dark, smoky cities—she plants herself in front of the remaining greenery with a sign that says “STOP!” and waits for the giants to notice her. Soon she is joined by a brown-skinned little boy, then animals and other, diverse children, all bearing more signs…until in time the giants hunker down in embarrassment and promise to mend their ways. And soon “the forest became more beautiful than they ever could have imagined.” Using mostly warm hues, Persico places the towering giants and the crowds of sign-wielding, ankle-high protesters in mistily atmospheric settings that culminate in a double-page –spread “peaceable kingdom” scene. This Greta has a forthright look in accord with the polite tone of the colloquy (“We need to take care of our forest and live together. Will you please try?”), but she lacks the living one’s challenging, world-class stare. Moreover, the author’s closing observation that her tale’s happy ending hasn’t actually (or, optimistically, yet) come about in the real world is buried in an appended account of Thunberg’s campaign (to about mid-2019) and so may go unnoticed by younger readers.
Bland and tidy—but a good starter for discussions with budding activists. (websites, suggested activities) (Picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: Nov. 19, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-7112-5377-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Adventure, humor, and smart, likable characters make for a winning chapter book.
Ada Twist’s incessant stream of questions leads to answers that help solve a neighborhood crisis.
Ada conducts experiments at home to answer questions such as, why does Mom’s coffee smell stronger than Dad’s coffee? Each answer leads to another question, another hypothesis, and another experiment, which is how she goes from collecting data on backyard birds for a citizen-science project to helping Rosie Revere figure out how to get her uncle Ned down from the sky, where his helium-filled “perilous pants” are keeping him afloat. The Questioneers—Rosie the engineer, Iggy Peck the architect, and Ada the scientist—work together, asking questions like scientists. Armed with knowledge (of molecules and air pressure, force and temperature) but more importantly, with curiosity, Ada works out a solution. Ada is a recognizable, three-dimensional girl in this delightfully silly chapter book: tirelessly curious and determined yet easily excited and still learning to express herself. If science concepts aren’t completely clear in this romp, relationships and emotions certainly are. In playful full- and half-page illustrations that break up the text, Ada is black with Afro-textured hair; Rosie and Iggy are white. A closing section on citizen science may inspire readers to get involved in science too; on the other hand, the “Ode to a Gas!” may just puzzle them. Other backmatter topics include the importance of bird study and the threat palm-oil use poses to rainforests.
Adventure, humor, and smart, likable characters make for a winning chapter book. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: April 16, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3422-9
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode.
A long-running series reaches its closing chapters.
Having, as Kline notes in her warm valedictory acknowledgements, taken 30 years to get through second and third grade, Harry Spooger is overdue to move on—but not just into fourth grade, it turns out, as his family is moving to another town as soon as the school year ends. The news leaves his best friend, narrator “Dougo,” devastated…particularly as Harry doesn’t seem all that fussed about it. With series fans in mind, the author takes Harry through a sort of last-day-of-school farewell tour. From his desk he pulls a burned hot dog and other items that featured in past episodes, says goodbye to Song Lee and other classmates, and even (for the first time ever) leads Doug and readers into his house and memento-strewn room for further reminiscing. Of course, Harry isn’t as blasé about the move as he pretends, and eyes aren’t exactly dry when he departs. But hardly is he out of sight before Doug is meeting Mohammad, a new neighbor from Syria who (along with further diversifying a cast that began as mostly white but has become increasingly multiethnic over the years) will also be starting fourth grade at summer’s end, and planning a written account of his “horrible” buddy’s exploits. Finished illustrations not seen.
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Nov. 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-451-47963-1
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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