A solid conversation starter on topics of self-control.
Pete and Dell are sweet-toothed brothers who learn strategies to help them delay gratification in this rhyming picture book.
The brown-skinned twin boys with kinky-curly brown hair are given what amounts to Dr. Walter Mischel’s famous 1960s-era “Marshmallow Test” when their mom says they can have a marshmallow now or ice cream later, after the T-ball game. Pete eats the treat immediately while Dell decides to wait until after the game for the ice cream, which both boys prefer to marshmallows. In moments of temptation, the scale of the enticing treat is emphasized to show its overpowering effect. The brothers are tested the following week when a friend comes over with a jar of gummy worms. Like the marshmallow, the jar of gummy worms takes up the double-page spread. Again, Pete cannot resist the temptation of the treat (his arm takes on gargantuan proportions as he reaches in), but Dell is able once again to wait for the higher-value ice cream treat. Pete asks Dell how he’s able to resist, and Dell shares some strategies that hopefully will equip both Pete and young readers with some research-backed tools that help children delay gratification. The aftermatter further explains the history of the Marshmallow Test, expands on the strategies touched on in the narrative, and provides additional strategies for caregivers to use with kids. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-16-inch double-page spreads viewed at 67% of actual size.)
A solid conversation starter on topics of self-control. (Picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: May 25, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4338-3226-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Magination/American Psychological Association
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2021
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
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode.
A long-running series reaches its closing chapters.
Having, as Kline notes in her warm valedictory acknowledgements, taken 30 years to get through second and third grade, Harry Spooger is overdue to move on—but not just into fourth grade, it turns out, as his family is moving to another town as soon as the school year ends. The news leaves his best friend, narrator “Dougo,” devastated…particularly as Harry doesn’t seem all that fussed about it. With series fans in mind, the author takes Harry through a sort of last-day-of-school farewell tour. From his desk he pulls a burned hot dog and other items that featured in past episodes, says goodbye to Song Lee and other classmates, and even (for the first time ever) leads Doug and readers into his house and memento-strewn room for further reminiscing. Of course, Harry isn’t as blasé about the move as he pretends, and eyes aren’t exactly dry when he departs. But hardly is he out of sight before Doug is meeting Mohammad, a new neighbor from Syria who (along with further diversifying a cast that began as mostly white but has become increasingly multiethnic over the years) will also be starting fourth grade at summer’s end, and planning a written account of his “horrible” buddy’s exploits. Finished illustrations not seen.
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Nov. 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-451-47963-1
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
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