An early comic drills home the lesson that you never know how much you need someone until you find a friend.
Two wild critters navigate seasons along with the ups and downs of an unexpected friendship.
Tiny Fox lives in a valley with just an apple tree for companionship, and, “like most small animals, he went about his day believing he was happy.” All that changes when Great Boar arrives and plops down beneath the tree. Perturbed, Tiny Fox now has to share everything. When he leaves for a short time and returns, however, he discovers Great Boar is gone and a newfound loneliness has settled in his place. Happily, the two are reunited in the first story in this collection (“Here”), and as the seasons change (“Together” takes place during fall and winter, snowy weather continues in “Apart,” and “There” takes the pals into spring), the two learn to trust one another and, when called upon to do so, trust themselves as well. Watercolors capable of evoking not simply the splendor of a new dawn, but also this little book’s emotional pitch are wielded with surgical skill. The smallest dab of a line beneath an eye can indicate remorse or, more often, worry. This storyline provides an elegant bridge between picture books and graphic novels; for fans of similarly early, gentle comics like Fox and Rabbit by Beth Ferry (2020) and Bug Boys by Laura Knetzger (2020).
An early comic drills home the lesson that you never know how much you need someone until you find a friend. (Graphic early reader. 6-9)Pub Date: April 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-63715-020-7
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Oni Press
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
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