A delectably loving tribute to a pioneering entrepreneur.
The author grows to appreciate the ingenuity of her Taiwanese grandfather.
When Cheng was a child, her Agong carried a bag of coins in his pocket; that simple bag tells a story of “joyful jingles, sultry summers, and fresh frozen fruit.” It all began in 1965, when Agong was a young man making a living selling pork. As the demand for pork dwindled, he wondered what else he could stock in his empty freezer. Noticing the scorching summer heat, he had an idea and started traveling the country, speaking with farmers harvesting guava, pineapple, star fruit, and more. Slicing the fruits and blending them together with bits of sugar, Agong experimented with ways to package the frozen delights, finally landing on colorful pouches that “gleamed like jewels in red, white and yellow as they quickly turned to scrumptious fruit pops.” The innovation didn’t stop there. Agong realized that outdoor food vendors often had difficulty being heard over the cacophony of honking vehicles, so he held a competition, inviting composers to devise a creative jingle to “cut through the rumbling noise of Taipei.” As Cheng brings her tale to a close, she notes that her grandfather’s legacy lives on as three generations of family sing the tune at his funeral. Her gently affectionate narrative flows naturally, marked by alliterative, elegant language. Mineker’s warmly textured illustrations rely on soft lines and bold colors.
A delectably loving tribute to a pioneering entrepreneur. (Picture-book biography. 5-8)Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593617755
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Rocky Pond Books/Penguin
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
Blandly inspirational fare made to evoke equally shrink-wrapped responses.
An NBA star pays tribute to the influence of his grandfather.
In the same vein as his Long Shot (2009), illustrated by Frank Morrison, this latest from Paul prioritizes values and character: “My granddad Papa Chilly had dreams that came true,” he writes, “so maybe if I listen and watch him, / mine will too.” So it is that the wide-eyed Black child in the simply drawn illustrations rises early to get to the playground hoops before anyone else, watches his elder working hard and respecting others, hears him cheering along with the rest of the family from the stands during games, and recalls in a prose afterword that his grandfather wasn’t one to lecture but taught by example. Paul mentions in both the text and the backmatter that Papa Chilly was the first African American to own a service station in North Carolina (his presumed dream) but not that he was killed in a robbery, which has the effect of keeping the overall tone positive and the instructional content one-dimensional. Figures in the pictures are mostly dark-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Blandly inspirational fare made to evoke equally shrink-wrapped responses. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-250-81003-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
A unique angle on a watershed moment in the civil rights era.
The New Orleans school child who famously broke the color line in 1960 while surrounded by federal marshals describes the early days of her experience from a 6-year-old’s perspective.
Bridges told her tale to younger children in 2009’s Ruby Bridges Goes to School, but here the sensibility is more personal, and the sometimes-shocking historical photos have been replaced by uplifting painted scenes. “I didn’t find out what being ‘the first’ really meant until the day I arrived at this new school,” she writes. Unfrightened by the crowd of “screaming white people” that greets her at the school’s door (she thinks it’s like Mardi Gras) but surprised to find herself the only child in her classroom, and even the entire building, she gradually realizes the significance of her act as (in Smith’s illustration) she compares a small personal photo to the all-White class photos posted on a bulletin board and sees the difference. As she reflects on her new understanding, symbolic scenes first depict other dark-skinned children marching into classes in her wake to friendly greetings from lighter-skinned classmates (“School is just school,” she sensibly concludes, “and kids are just kids”) and finally an image of the bright-eyed icon posed next to a soaring bridge of reconciliation. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A unique angle on a watershed moment in the civil rights era. (author and illustrator notes, glossary) (Autobiographical picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-338-75388-2
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
PERSPECTIVES
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
