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THE STORYTELLERS RULE

Name: THE STORYTELLERS RULE
Author: Christy Mandin
ISBN: 978-0-06-304735-8

by Christy Mandin ; illustrated by Christy Mandin ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 21, 2023

Underwhelming despite earnest efforts to inspire.

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A metanarrative about creativity.

A gaggle of cute-as-a-button office supplies hatch a plan as an end-of-year writing assignment looms for Birdie, a light-skinned girl. While the pens, pencil, marker, ruler, and eraser all have fun names, they mostly act as an ensemble. These anthropomorphic Storytellers plant clues to help Birdie follow the three storytelling rules: Writers should pay close attention to the world around them, remember that putting something on the page is better than nothing, and know there’s only one person who can tell your story: you. Birdie, unaware of her magic helpers, struggles for inspiration and energy but acts on the hints. The dialogue is rendered in a chunky black font, while text in a plain font shares a play-by-play on some spreads. A palette of warm, bright hues and neatly shaded illustrations calms otherwise busy scenes. The actual issue of writer’s block could be lost on some children, but they can enjoy the familiar wonder of walking in a park, working at a messy creation station, and letting one’s imagination take flight. After meandering outside and working through an idea jar, Birdie is ultimately motivated by a simple Post-it note reading “What if….” While there is beauty in this simple solution, it does not spell visual or narrative intrigue for an already cerebral topic. For all the effort spilled onto these pages, nothing very interesting happens. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Underwhelming despite earnest efforts to inspire. (Picture book. 5-8)

Pub Date: March 21, 2023

ISBN: 978-0-06-304735-8

Page Count: 40

Publisher: HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
MILLIE FLEUR'S POISON GARDEN
by Christy Mandin ; illustrated by Christy Mandin

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IMANI'S MOON

by JaNay Brown-Wood ; illustrated by Hazel Mitchell ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 14, 2014

While the blend of folklore, fantasy and realism is certainly far-fetched, Imani, with her winning personality, is a child...

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Imani endures the insults heaped upon her by the other village children, but she never gives up her dreams.

The Masai girl is tiny compared to the other children, but she is full of imagination and perseverance. Luckily, she has a mother who believes in her and tells her stories that will fuel that imagination. Mama tells her about the moon goddess, Olapa, who wins over the sun god. She tells Imani about Anansi, the trickster spider who vanquishes a larger snake. (Troublingly, the fact that Anansi is a West African figure, not of the Masai, goes unaddressed in both text and author’s note.) Inspired, the tiny girl tries to find new ways to achieve her dream: to touch the moon. One day, after crashing to the ground yet again when her leafy wings fail, she is ready to forget her hopes. That night, she witnesses the adumu, the special warriors’ jumping dance. Imani wakes the next morning, determined to jump to the moon. After jumping all day, she reaches the moon, meets Olapa and receives a special present from the goddess, a small moon rock. Now she becomes the storyteller when she relates her adventure to Mama. The watercolor-and-graphite illustrations have been enhanced digitally, and the night scenes of storytelling and fantasy with their glowing stars and moons have a more powerful impact than the daytime scenes, with their blander colors.

While the blend of folklore, fantasy and realism is certainly far-fetched, Imani, with her winning personality, is a child to be admired. (Picture book. 5-8)

Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2014

ISBN: 978-1-934133-57-6

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Mackinac Island Press

Review Posted Online: July 28, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2014

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
ON OUR WAY! WHAT A DAY!
by JaNay Brown-Wood ; illustrated by Tamisha Anthony

- BOOK REVIEW
HERE ARE THE SEEDS
by JaNay Brown-Wood ; illustrated by Olivia Amoah

- BOOK REVIEW
MAHOGANY
by JaNay Brown-Wood ; illustrated by John Joven

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CLAYMATES

by Dev Petty ; illustrated by Lauren Eldridge ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 20, 2017

The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted...

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Reinvention is the name of the game for two blobs of clay.

A blue-eyed gray blob and a brown-eyed brown blob sit side by side, unsure as to what’s going to happen next. The gray anticipates an adventure, while the brown appears apprehensive. A pair of hands descends, and soon, amid a flurry of squishing and prodding and poking and sculpting, a handsome gray wolf and a stately brown owl emerge. The hands disappear, leaving the friends to their own devices. The owl is pleased, but the wolf convinces it that the best is yet to come. An ear pulled here and an extra eye placed there, and before you can shake a carving stick, a spurt of frenetic self-exploration—expressed as a tangled black scribble—reveals a succession of smug hybrid beasts. After all, the opportunity to become a “pig-e-phant” doesn’t come around every day. But the sound of approaching footsteps panics the pair of Picassos. How are they going to “fix [them]selves” on time? Soon a hippopotamus and peacock are staring bug-eyed at a returning pair of astonished hands. The creative naiveté of the “clay mates” is perfectly captured by Petty’s feisty, spot-on dialogue: “This was your idea…and it was a BAD one.” Eldridge’s endearing sculpted images are photographed against the stark white background of an artist’s work table to great effect.

The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted fun of their own . (Picture book. 5-8)