A colorful, charming tale that encourages young artists to find beauty everywhere they look.
When a girl forgets her art box at home, her grandmother helps her see the wondrous potential in everyday objects in Odusanya’s picture book.
Amelia, who has tan skin and brown hair, is a young girl with a “secret” art technique: She likes to take photos of everyday objects with her camera, then use the photos as inspiration for paintings. One day, Amelia heads to her grandmother’s farmhouse and sees a variety of beautiful views along the way. But when she arrives, Amelia’s crestfallen to realize that she forgot her art box at home. Amelia’s grandmother then shares some words of wisdom: “Art is INSIDE of you, and supplies are all AROUND you. You just have to look for them.” These words inspire Amelia to look at her surroundings with fresh eyes. Bold colors and lines make Medonza’s delightful illustrations practically pop off the page. Odusanya uses simple language to impart ideas and lessons, making this an ideal book for young readers. Kids and adults alike can take inspiration from a “Grown-Up’s Guide” at the end of the book that offers helpful ideas to get kids started on making their own artwork from everyday objects such as rocks, cotton swabs, and hardware. The story, pictures, and suggested activities transform this simple book into an experience the whole family can enjoy.
A colorful, charming tale that encourages young artists to find beauty everywhere they look.Pub Date: Nov. 18, 2023
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Sunshine and Rain Co.
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.
The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on...
Continuing from their acclaimed Those Shoes (2007), Boelts and Jones entwine conversations on money, motives, and morality.
This second collaboration between author and illustrator is set within an urban multicultural streetscape, where brown-skinned protagonist Ruben wishes for a bike like his friend Sergio’s. He wishes, but Ruben knows too well the pressure his family feels to prioritize the essentials. While Sergio buys a pack of football cards from Sonny’s Grocery, Ruben must buy the bread his mom wants. A familiar lady drops what Ruben believes to be a $1 bill, but picking it up, to his shock, he discovers $100! Is this Ruben’s chance to get himself the bike of his dreams? In a fateful twist, Ruben loses track of the C-note and is sent into a panic. After finally finding it nestled deep in a backpack pocket, he comes to a sense of moral clarity: “I remember how it was for me when that money that was hers—then mine—was gone.” When he returns the bill to her, the lady offers Ruben her blessing, leaving him with double-dipped emotions, “happy and mixed up, full and empty.” Readers will be pleased that there’s no reward for Ruben’s choice of integrity beyond the priceless love and warmth of a family’s care and pride.
Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on children. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6649-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
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