FACING MIGHTY FEARS ABOUT BEING APART FROM PARENTS

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FACING MIGHTY FEARS ABOUT BEING APART FROM PARENTS

Name: FACING MIGHTY FEARS ABOUT BEING APART FROM PARENTS
Author: Dawn Huebner
ISBN: 9781839974649

From the Dr. Dawn's Mini Books About Mighty Fears series , Vol. 7

by Dawn Huebner ; illustrated by Liza Stevens ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 18, 2024

Sound, despite the uninviting look.

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A clinical psychologist offers savvy strategies for coping with a common childhood anxiety.

“So, being apart happens.” Despite a page design best described as utilitarian, this series entry offers clingy young readers and their concerned parents both a reassuring message and some helpful tools for getting past the angst. Huebner offers a lengthy catalog of animal parents who, much like human ones, “go to great lengths to keep their babies safe.” These examples are printed as “Fun Facts” on images of small loose-leaf pages taped in below the widely spaced text. The author also provides techniques for coping with panic responses through breath control and describes a method for breaking down separation experiences—from sleeping in a separate bedroom to starting school—into incremental steps. A denser following section lists tips and observations calculated to relieve caregivers’ anxieties about easing children through the process. Huebner closes with generous sets of print and online resources for both of her intended audiences (plus a plug for her video series). In keeping with the narrative’s tone of casual confidence, Stevens tucks in cartoon images of animals and a racially diverse human cast that includes children of various ages, one of whom uses a wheelchair.

Sound, despite the uninviting look. (Nonfiction. 6-10)

Pub Date: April 18, 2024

ISBN: 9781839974649

Page Count: 80

Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers

Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2024

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S HEALTH & DAILY LIVING

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THE LITTLE BOOK OF JOY

by Dalai Lama & Desmond Tutu ; illustrated by Rafael López ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 27, 2022

Hundreds of pages of unbridled uplift boiled down to 40.

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From two Nobel Peace Prize winners, an invitation to look past sadness and loneliness to the joy that surrounds us.

Bobbing in the wake of 2016’s heavyweight Book of Joy (2016), this brief but buoyant address to young readers offers an earnest insight: “If you just focus on the thing that is making / you sad, then the sadness is all you see. / But if you look around, you will / see that joy is everywhere.” López expands the simply delivered proposal in fresh and lyrical ways—beginning with paired scenes of the authors as solitary children growing up in very different circumstances on (as they put it) “opposite sides of the world,” then meeting as young friends bonded by streams of rainbow bunting and going on to share their exuberantly hued joy with a group of dancers diverse in terms of age, race, culture, and locale while urging readers to do the same. Though on the whole this comes off as a bit bland (the banter and hilarity that characterized the authors’ recorded interchanges are absent here) and their advice just to look away from the sad things may seem facile in view of what too many children are inescapably faced with, still, it’s hard to imagine anyone in the world more qualified to deliver such a message than these two. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Hundreds of pages of unbridled uplift boiled down to 40. (Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2022

ISBN: 978-0-593-48423-4

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Crown

Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2022

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S HEALTH & DAILY LIVING

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DEAR RUBY, HEAR OUR HEARTS

by Ruby Bridges ; illustrated by John Jay Cabuay ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 2, 2024

Anemic messages of hope from an iconic activist.

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Civil rights legend Bridges encourages young people to persevere.

After becoming the face of school integration at just 6 years old, Bridges continued to further her legacy by visiting schools across the U.S. Over the past 25 years, she has received letters from thousands of students with “ideas and concerns that ran deeper than we grown-ups gave them credit for.” In her latest book for kids, Bridges responds to notes from children grappling with political and social crises, including anti-Asian racism, climate change, and gun violence. The issues that matter to young Americans come alive in Cabuay’s energetic illustrations, which make deft use of color and texture. On one spread, a short, brown-skinned child named Tala, bullied for being short, strides confidently down a school hallway past classmates who whisper and laugh. In the accompanying letter, Tala talks about drawing strength from Bridges’ bravery; Bridges’ reply emphasizes that “it’s okay to be different because what really matters is your heart and what’s inside!” The correspondences are brief, barely skimming the surface, and Bridges’ messages are too general to have a genuine impact. Backmatter, which includes a glossary with pronunciation guides, is helpful but does little to connect Bridges’ historic contributions to the issues young people are facing today. This picture book’s superficial discussion of important topics doesn’t live up to Bridges’ advocacy or Cabuay’s dynamic art.

Anemic messages of hope from an iconic activist. (more information on Bridges) (Picture book. 6-9)