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ZORA, THE STORY KEEPER

Name: ZORA, THE STORY KEEPER
Author: Ebony Joy Wilkins
ISBN: 9781984816917

by Ebony Joy Wilkins ; illustrated by Dare Coulter ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 3, 2023

Powerfully immersive.

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When Aunt Bea can no longer tell stories, young Zora becomes the new storykeeper.

Zora loves hearing family stories from Aunt Bea, who taught acting and uses her theatrical skills, including costumes, to evoke various relatives. Through the family book filled with photographs, names, and dates, combined with Aunt Bea’s storytelling, Zora learns about Grandma Jean’s swim coaching days and Grandpa Tom’s preaching. Zora’s page is near the end of the book, and Zora wonders which parts of her life Aunt Bea will focus on. When Aunt Bea becomes weak, her storytelling suffers, and Zora helps her with the stories. Before they reach Zora’s pages in the book, Aunt Bea dies. But she has left Zora the book, with Zora’s role named on her pages and an envelope of photographs to add to the book, including ones that tell a story of Aunt Bea’s life. This deeply moving tale of family history and connections, loss, memory, and legacy offers a beautiful way to talk to children about the contributions people make during their time on this Earth and is a striking representation of a Black family full of ordinary and outstanding people. Every word of Wilkins’ text is well chosen, and Coulter’s stunning, emotional art, a unique combination of photographs and mixed media, is a memorable visual depiction of a range of tender moments. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Powerfully immersive. (Picture book. 4-10)

Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2023

ISBN: 9781984816917

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Kokila

Review Posted Online: July 13, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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by Ebony Joy Wilkins ; illustrated by Steffi Walthall

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SELLOUT
by Ebony Joy Wilkins

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LITTLE DAYMOND LEARNS TO EARN

by Daymond John ; illustrated by Nicole Miles ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 21, 2023

It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)