A well-illustrated story of honoring family and culture.
An Indian child’s mother uses colors to teach life lessons in A.’s picture book.
The story opens with a boy talking about how their Maa is his favorite person, as she teaches him how to be kind and good. The child explains that he sees Maa’s wisdom in the color of the saree that she puts on each morning. In the color blue, the boy sees the limitless sky, and green makes him think about how trees “give us air to breathe, and leaves that can help us heal.” Greenish-blue waves remind Maa to talk about how things come and go in life. Red is powerful like the goddess Devi, and yellow reminds mother and child of Krishna because it represents a happy mind. Maa imparts further wisdom by wearing joyful white to celebrate or black when bogged down by others’ emotions. The story ends with the narrator meditating on how all life is connected worldwide. Overall, the text offers a beautiful parenting story. Aggarwal’s bright, full-color, painterly illustrations feature plenty of background detail to situate each scene properly. The human characters, who are depicted with various shades of brown skin, could have been more realistically detailed; many lack necks or seem awkwardly positioned. An author’s note for adults and a detailed glossary appear after the story.
A well-illustrated story of honoring family and culture.Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9781953384218
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Eternal Tree Books LLC
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Nice enough but not worth repeat reads.
Emma deals with jitters before playing the guitar in the school talent show.
Pop musician Kevin Jonas and his wife, Danielle, put performance at the center of their picture-book debut. When Emma is intimidated by her very talented friends, the encouragement of her younger sister, Bella, and the support of her family help her to shine her own light. The story is straightforward and the moral familiar: Draw strength from your family and within to overcome your fears. Employing the performance-anxiety trope that’s been written many times over, the book plods along predictably—there’s nothing really new or surprising here. Dawson’s full-color digital illustrations center a White-presenting family along with Emma’s three friends of color: Jamila has tanned skin and wears a hijab; Wendy has dark brown skin and Afro puffs; and Luis has medium brown skin. Emma’s expressive eyes and face are the real draw of the artwork—from worry to embarrassment to joy, it’s clear what she’s feeling. A standout double-page spread depicts Emma’s talent show performance, with a rainbow swirl of music erupting from an amp and Emma rocking a glam outfit and electric guitar. Overall, the book reads pretty plainly, buoyed largely by the artwork. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Nice enough but not worth repeat reads. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: March 29, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-35207-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
A good bet for the youngest bird-watchers.
Echoing the meter of “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” Ward uses catchy original rhymes to describe the variety of nests birds create.
Each sweet stanza is complemented by a factual, engaging description of the nesting habits of each bird. Some of the notes are intriguing, such as the fact that the hummingbird uses flexible spider web to construct its cup-shaped nest so the nest will stretch as the chicks grow. An especially endearing nesting behavior is that of the emperor penguin, who, with unbelievable patience, incubates the egg between his tummy and his feet for up to 60 days. The author clearly feels a mission to impart her extensive knowledge of birds and bird behavior to the very young, and she’s found an appealing and attractive way to accomplish this. The simple rhymes on the left page of each spread, written from the young bird’s perspective, will appeal to younger children, and the notes on the right-hand page of each spread provide more complex factual information that will help parents answer further questions and satisfy the curiosity of older children. Jenkins’ accomplished collage illustrations of common bird species—woodpecker, hummingbird, cowbird, emperor penguin, eagle, owl, wren—as well as exotics, such as flamingoes and hornbills, are characteristically naturalistic and accurate in detail.
A good bet for the youngest bird-watchers. (author’s note, further resources) (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 18, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4424-2116-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2014
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