An obvious metaphor becomes a lighthearted reminder about the importance of perspective for all ages.
A boy discovers a garden that blooms with the power of positive thinking in Moyers’ children’s book.
Leo feels like his world is turned upside down when he goes to school one morning and finds that the seating arrangement in his classroom has changed (and not for the better). He liked sitting next to his best friend Mia in class, but he does not know anything about his new desk-mate Sam. Even worse, Mia seems to be completely content—when Leo looks over at her, she is happily chatting with her new neighbor. On the way home after school, Leo wonders why something so unfair is happening to him. Why does he have to sit next to someone he knows nothing about? How could Mia give up her seat so easily? As he ponders what he should do next, Leo discovers the hidden entrance to the Mind-Garden, which is tended by an old man named Mr. Elwood. Among the vivid flowers and fruit trees, Leo finds a patch of wilted flowers. Mr. Elwood explains that the garden reflects the mind of whoever walks into it: “Positive, happy thoughts bloom into beautiful flowers and vibrant plants. Worried, negative thoughts, however, give rise to these.” As Leo thinks about his day, he wonders aloud how to change his mindset to make his plants bloom. The solution comes to him quickly, and as he reframes his new desk-mate as an opportunity to make a friend, his gloomy flowers start to blossom before his eyes. After leaving the idyll, Leo is determined to keep his garden vibrant as he goes about his school days. This first book in Moyers’ new series feels like sunshine, with its expressive passages and Revuelta’s golden-hued, painterly illustrations. It is easy to follow along the ups and downs of Leo’s emotions, and satisfying when he is able to spin his negative thoughts into positive outcomes.
An obvious metaphor becomes a lighthearted reminder about the importance of perspective for all ages.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 9798344019772
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: March 21, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
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