A joyous and inclusive primer on how communities can unite to welcome newcomers.
A lost mandarin duck is welcomed to the neighborhood as its residents celebrate culture and community on May Day.
On their way to attend the May Day Parade, Hoa and Hue discover a lost mandarin duck in the park. As they try to lead it to the pond they encounter many of their friends, who greet the duck in different languages. From the unfazed faces of the characters to the consistent typeface, color, and font, these multilingual introductions are presented with a sense of normalcy and affirmation. Hoa and Hue greet the duck speaking Vietnamese, and their friends variously offer greetings in Dakota, Tamil, Somali, Cambodian, and Russian, among others. The bright and cheery cartoon illustrations capture the exuberance and vibrant energy surrounding the day’s events. Background images incorporate the social activism associated with the real-life parade in Minneapolis on which the book’s event is based. Readers will spot signs emblazoned “Black Lives Matter,” “Say No to Homophobia,” and “No DAPL” (referring to the Dakota Access Pipeline) as well as a banner saying “End Deportation.” A brief scene acknowledges the fear and uncertainty caused by a surprise appearance from the police. Hoa and Hue are cued as Vietnamese, and the rest of the characters are depicted in a variety of skin tones and hair colors.
A joyous and inclusive primer on how communities can unite to welcome newcomers. (author's note, glossary) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-6844-6256-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Capstone Editions
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2021
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An immersive, charming read and convincing proof again that even small bodies can house stout hearts.
Can knightly deeds bring together a feathered odd couple who are on opposite daily schedules?
Having won over a dragon (and millions of fans) in the Caldecott Honor–winning Knight Owl (2022), the fierce yet impossibly cute nocturnal, armor-clad owlet faces a new challenge—sleep deprivation—in the wake of taking on Early Bird, a trainee who rises with the sun and chatters interminably: “I made pancakes! Do you like pancakes? I love pancakes! Where’s the syrup?” It’s enough to test the patience of even the knightliest of owls, and eventually Knight Owl explodes in anger. But although Early Bird is even smaller than her mentor, she turns out to be just as determined to achieve knighthood. After he tells her to leave, she acquits herself so nobly in a climactic encounter with a pack of wolves that she earns a place at the castle. Denise proves a dab hand at depicting genuinely slinky, scary wolves as well as slipping cheerfully anachronistic newspapers and other sight gags into his realistically wrought medieval settings to underscore the tale’s tongue-in-cheek tone. Better yet, a final view of the doughty duo sitting down together to a lavish pancake breakfast/dinner at dusk ends the episode in a sweet rush of syrup and bonhomie.
An immersive, charming read and convincing proof again that even small bodies can house stout hearts. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9780316564526
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
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