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MARTINA HAS TOO MANY TÍAS

Name: MARTINA HAS TOO MANY TÍAS
Author: Emma Otheguy
ISBN: 9781534445369

by Emma Otheguy ; illustrated by Sara Palacios ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 20, 2023

An affirming story that feels like a warm hug from a beloved relative.

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A Latine child has a tía problem.

Martina loves her tías—salsa dancer Tía Susana, flashy fashionista Tía Leonor, and loud, laughing Tía Alberta—but her aunts give her a headache when they’re around! Dreading another boisterous visit from them, Martina slips away during a party to the corner bodega. She buys a flower with a found coin and heads back to her apartment. While sniffing a big pot of guava, she plunges headlong inside and is transported to a jungle, where she interviews potential animal playmates—all of whom are too loud for her head to bear. Finally, she befriends a quiet mouse, and they bond over a love of imaginary adventures and hushed voices. As darkness falls, the fun fades, loneliness creeps in, and—in a scene reminiscent of Max returning from the land of the Wild Things—Martina reemerges in her kitchen surrounded by tías who can’t wait to hear her story. In this sweet homage to the Caribbean folktale “La Cucaracha Martina,” a young girl comes to cherish familial love. Colorful, digitally rendered illustrations have a three-dimensional, collage feel, exuding warmth and light and capturing a child’s world of imagination. Readers who prefer quiet contemplation to rowdy celebrations will feel kinship with Martina. Though the child needs some alone time, she’s always clearly an integral part of her family—a much-needed message that comes through loudly (but not too loudly!). (This book was reviewed digitally.)

An affirming story that feels like a warm hug from a beloved relative. (author’s note) (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: June 20, 2023

ISBN: 9781534445369

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Atheneum

Review Posted Online: March 28, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

- BOOK REVIEW
REINA RAMOS
by Emma Otheguy ; illustrated by Andrés Landazábal

- BOOK REVIEW
REINA RAMOS MEETS A BIG PUPPY
by Emma Otheguy ; illustrated by Andrés Landazábal

- BOOK REVIEW
REINA RAMOS WORKS IT OUT
by Emma Otheguy ; illustrated by Andrés Landazábal

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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)

Pub Date: June 21, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

- BOOK REVIEW
FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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GRUMPY MONKEY

by Suzanne Lang ; illustrated by Max Lang ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 15, 2018

Though Jim may have been grumpy because a chimp’s an ape and not a monkey, readers will enjoy and maybe learn from his...

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It’s a wonderful day in the jungle, so why’s Jim Panzee so grumpy?

When Jim woke up, nothing was right: "The sun was too bright, the sky was too blue, and bananas were too sweet." Norman the gorilla asks Jim why he’s so grumpy, and Jim insists he’s not. They meet Marabou, to whom Norman confides that Jim’s grumpy. When Jim denies it again, Marabou points out that Jim’s shoulders are hunched; Jim stands up. When they meet Lemur, Lemur points out Jim’s bunchy eyebrows; Jim unbunches them. When he trips over Snake, Snake points out Jim’s frown…so Jim puts on a grimacelike smile. Everyone has suggestions to brighten his mood: dancing, singing, swinging, swimming…but Jim doesn’t feel like any of that. He gets so fed up, he yells at his animal friends and stomps off…then he feels sad about yelling. He and Norman (who regrets dancing with that porcupine) finally just have a sit and decide it’s a wonderful day to be grumpy—which, of course, makes them both feel a little better. Suzanne Lang’s encouragement to sit with your emotions (thus allowing them to pass) is nearly Buddhist in its take, and it will be great bibliotherapy for the crabby, cranky, and cross. Oscar-nominated animator Max Lang’s cartoony illustrations lighten the mood without making light of Jim’s mood; Jim has comically long arms, and his facial expressions are quite funny.

Though Jim may have been grumpy because a chimp’s an ape and not a monkey, readers will enjoy and maybe learn from his journey. (Picture book. 4-8)