A thoughtful story that emphasizes kindness and self-esteem.
A girl learns to embrace her accent in Trust’s debut picture book.
Daisy and her family move from England to the U.S. At her new school, kids tease her about her English accent. Although hurt, she tries to stay strong but often holds back tears. She also struggles to adjust to calling things by different names: “What I call trousers, they call pants.” After Daisy’s brother, Billy, sees her reading How To Sound American, he informs their parents. Daisy cries and tells them about her struggles. Mum and Dad give their daughter a pep talk, saying she should be proud of where she comes from and embrace who she is. The next day at school, Daisy ignores the taunts. She says, “What makes us different, makes us great” and offers her classmates friendship. Now, they think her accent is “cool.” Daisy decides, “Though I say mate, and they say friend, it doesn’t matter in the end.” The book offers empathetic insight into what it’s like being a new student and includes a glossary featuring variations between British and American English, like mom and mum. Adhi’s cartoonish illustrations are bright and engaging. They also show details like thought bubbles and backdrops, such as a charming cityscape of Daisy in London. Daisy presents White; her schoolmates are Black, Asian, and White.
A thoughtful story that emphasizes kindness and self-esteem.Pub Date: Feb. 23, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-73635-452-0
Page Count: 34
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions.
Ellis, known for her illustrations for Colin Meloy’s Wildwood series, here riffs on the concept of “home.”
Shifting among homes mundane and speculative, contemporary and not, Ellis begins and ends with views of her own home and a peek into her studio. She highlights palaces and mansions, but she also takes readers to animal homes and a certain famously folkloric shoe (whose iconic Old Woman manages a passel of multiethnic kids absorbed in daring games). One spread showcases “some folks” who “live on the road”; a band unloads its tour bus in front of a theater marquee. Ellis’ compelling ink and gouache paintings, in a palette of blue-grays, sepia and brick red, depict scenes ranging from mythical, underwater Atlantis to a distant moonscape. Another spread, depicting a garden and large building under connected, transparent domes, invites readers to wonder: “Who in the world lives here? / And why?” (Earth is seen as a distant blue marble.) Some of Ellis’ chosen depictions, oddly juxtaposed and stripped of any historical or cultural context due to the stylized design and spare text, become stereotypical. “Some homes are boats. / Some homes are wigwams.” A sailing ship’s crew seems poised to land near a trio of men clad in breechcloths—otherwise unidentified and unremarked upon.
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6529-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
An invitation to wonder, imagine and look at everything (humans included) in a new way.
A young boy sees things a little differently than others.
Noah can see patterns in the dust when it sparkles in the sunlight. And if he puts his nose to the ground, he can smell the “green tang of the ants in the grass.” His most favorite thing of all, however, is to read. Noah has endless curiosity about how and why things work. Books open the door to those answers. But there is one question the books do not explain. When the wind comes whistling by, where does it go? Noah decides to find out. In a chase that has a slight element of danger—wind, after all, is unpredictable—Noah runs down streets, across bridges, near a highway, until the wind lifts him off his feet. Cowman’s gusty wisps show each stream of air turning a different jewel tone, swirling all around. The ribbons gently bring Noah home, setting him down under the same thinking tree where he began. Did it really happen? Worthington’s sensitive exploration leaves readers with their own set of questions and perhaps gratitude for all types of perspective. An author’s note mentions children on the autism spectrum but widens to include all who feel a little different.
An invitation to wonder, imagine and look at everything (humans included) in a new way. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 14, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-60554-356-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Redleaf Lane
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2015
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