Will spark joy and inspire.
Finding a friend might be easier than it seems.
Vera lives in Russia, on the eastern coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula; Lucas lives in a small town on the coast of Chile. They reside on opposite edges of the world, in desolate locations by the Pacific Ocean; both long for a friend with whom they can share their days. This uniquely designed work, translated from Russian, allows readers to choose which character’s life to explore first. They can follow Vera on a typical day of playing with Mukha the dog and making a sekretik, a “little secret treasure,” or they can flip the book over to accompany Lucas on a day playing soccer and reading. A yellow line drawing of the friend whom each hopes for accompanies both children throughout the rich, stylized illustrations. For both, the day culminates in a trip to the beach, where they stand at the shore with a flashlight and transmit a greeting in Morse code, hoping to befriend someone beyond the edge of the world. Despite the physical impossibility of their messages reaching anyone, they each receive a response. The book is formatted so that Vera’s and Lucas’ flashlight messages make up the hinge of the book, linking the two stories and forming the beating heart of this sweet, whimsical tale of loneliness and connection against the odds. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Will spark joy and inspire. (International Morse code alphabet) (Picture book. 7-11)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780802856128
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Eerdmans
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
However the compelling fitness of theme and event and the apt but unexpected imagery (the opening sentences compare the...
At a time when death has become an acceptable, even voguish subject in children's fiction, Natalie Babbitt comes through with a stylistic gem about living forever.
Protected Winnie, the ten-year-old heroine, is not immortal, but when she comes upon young Jesse Tuck drinking from a secret spring in her parents' woods, she finds herself involved with a family who, having innocently drunk the same water some 87 years earlier, haven't aged a moment since. Though the mood is delicate, there is no lack of action, with the Tucks (previously suspected of witchcraft) now pursued for kidnapping Winnie; Mae Tuck, the middle aged mother, striking and killing a stranger who is onto their secret and would sell the water; and Winnie taking Mae's place in prison so that the Tucks can get away before she is hanged from the neck until....? Though Babbitt makes the family a sad one, most of their reasons for discontent are circumstantial and there isn't a great deal of wisdom to be gleaned from their fate or Winnie's decision not to share it.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1975
ISBN: 0312369816
Page Count: 164
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1975
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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