Simple in its storytelling, strong in its diversity, this is an entertaining as well as enlightening read.
Continuing his already-beloved Geisel Award–winning series, Adler brings Mo Jackson and the family to the soccer field, where overzealous Mo must hone his skills in order to perform at the big game.
Mo Jackson is a small boy who loves sports with all his heart, though he is often smaller, younger, and slower than the other kids on the field. In this outing, he must master kicking if he’s going to be a contributor to his team, keeping the soccer ball on the ground instead of allowing it to fly every which way. His mom and dad practice with Mo before the big game, rolling the ball to him again and again, but it’s not looking promising. When the game starts, Coach Judy reiterates to Mo and the rest of the kids: “Keep the ball low. Kick it on the ground. Kick it toward the goal.” With the game tied late, Mo will get his opportunity to test out his mighty kick he’d been practicing all day. Readers just may be surprised at the result. The easy-to-read large font shares each page with Ricks’ energized, cartoonish illustrations. They easily and often humorously support decoding the text. Mo, his parents, and Coach Judy are all black, and featured throughout are diverse characters of different skin tones, body types, hairstyles, and visible cultural cues.
Simple in its storytelling, strong in its diversity, this is an entertaining as well as enlightening read. (Early reader. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-425-28981-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers
Review Posted Online: July 23, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
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
The snappy text will get toes tapping, but the information it carries is limited.
Dancing is one of the most universal elements of cultures the world over.
In onomatopoeic, rhyming text, Bolling encourages readers to dance in styles including folk dance, classical ballet, breakdancing, and line dancing. Read aloud, the zippy text will engage young children: “Tappity Tap / Fingers Snap,” reads the rhyme on the double-page spread for flamenco; “Jiggity-Jig / Zig-zag-zig” describes Irish step dancing. The ballet pages stereotypically include only children in dresses or tutus, but one of these dancers wears hijab. Overall, children included are racially diverse and vary in gender presentation. Diaz’s illustrations show her background in animated films; her active child dancers generally have the large-eyed sameness of cartoon characters. The endpapers, with shoes and musical instruments, could become a matching game with pages in the book. The dances depicted are described at the end, including kathak from India and kuku from Guinea, West Africa. Unfortunately, these explanations are quite rudimentary. Kathak dancers use their facial expressions extensively in addition to the “movements of their hands and their jingling feet,” as described in the book. Although today kuku is danced at all types of celebrations in several countries, it was once done after fishing, an activity acknowledged in the illustrations but not mentioned in the explanatory text.
The snappy text will get toes tapping, but the information it carries is limited. (Informational picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: March 3, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-63592-142-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
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