A heartwarming story of love and food.
Max’s birthday is coming up—will he be able to enjoy the foods he loves?
Max, a young boy of Chinese descent, is adept at reading cues from the kitchen. Tonight he smells garlic, basil, and melting cheese and knows that the family will be having spaghetti and meatballs, his favorite. The next night, Max sets the table with blue-and-white bowls and smells ginger and sesame, all of which means his relatives will be coming, and they’ll probably be eating congee, “not-too-sweet” desserts, sizzling stir-fry, and dumplings. While he appreciates these Cantonese dishes, Max “can’t help thinking about other foods he likes,” such as tacos and pizza. On Max’s birthday, he wishes he could go to an Italian restaurant and eat cake with vanilla frosting and sprinkles, but the family’s plan for dinner at his grandparents’ place likely means they’ll be having Chinese food. Surrounded by loved ones, Max is pleasantly surprised by the meal his cousins have prepared: a fusion of Italian and Chinese cuisine, with a birthday mango cake complete with vanilla frosting and sprinkles—all served from the blue-and-white dishes his grandparents brought with them when they emigrated from Hong Kong. The straightforward narrative—a loving example of how young people can make room for multiple cultures—is accompanied by large textured blocks of colors layered with simple lines and shapes that add to the overall charm of the tale.
A heartwarming story of love and food. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: March 12, 2024
ISBN: 9781771474634
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Owlkids Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
This multigenerational snuggle will encourage the sharing of old memories and the creation of new ones.
Hill and Bobbiesi send a humungous hug from grandmothers to their granddaughters everywhere.
Delicate cartoon art adds details to the rhyming text showing multigenerational commonalities. “You and I are alike in such wonderful ways. / You will see more and more as you grow” (as grandmother and granddaughter enjoy the backyard together); “I wobbled uncertainly just as you did / whenever I tried something new” (as a toddler takes first steps); “And if a bad dream woke me up in the night, / I snuggled up with my lovey too” (grandmother kisses granddaughter, who clutches a plush narwhal). Grandmother-granddaughter pairs share everyday joys like eating ice cream, dancing “in the rain,” and making “up silly games.” Although some activities skew stereotypically feminine (baking, yoga), a grandmother helps with a quintessential volcano experiment (this pair presents black, adding valuable STEM representation), another cheers on a young wheelchair athlete (both present Asian), and a third, wearing a hijab, accompanies her brown-skinned granddaughter on a peace march, as it is “important to speak out for what you believe.” The message of unconditional love is clear throughout: “When you need me, I’ll be there to listen and care. / There is nothing that keeps us apart.” The finished book will include “stationery…for a special letter from Grandma to you!”
This multigenerational snuggle will encourage the sharing of old memories and the creation of new ones. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-7282-0623-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
A retro-futuristic romp, literally and figuratively screwy.
Robo-parents Diode and Lugnut present daughter Cathode with a new little brother—who requires, unfortunately, some assembly.
Arriving in pieces from some mechanistic version of Ikea, little Flange turns out to be a cute but complicated tyke who immediately falls apart…and then rockets uncontrollably about the room after an overconfident uncle tinkers with his basic design. As a squad of helpline techies and bevies of neighbors bearing sludge cake and like treats roll in, the cluttered and increasingly crowded scene deteriorates into madcap chaos—until at last Cath, with help from Roomba-like robodog Sprocket, stages an intervention by whisking the hapless new arrival off to a backyard workshop for a proper assembly and software update. “You’re such a good big sister!” warbles her frazzled mom. Wiesner’s robots display his characteristic clean lines and even hues but endearingly look like vaguely anthropomorphic piles of random jet-engine parts and old vacuum cleaners loosely connected by joints of armored cable. They roll hither and thither through neatly squared-off panels and pages in infectiously comical dismay. Even the end’s domestic tranquility lasts only until Cathode spots the little box buried in the bigger one’s packing material: “TWINS!” (This book was reviewed digitally with 9-by-22-inch double-page spreads viewed at 52% of actual size.)
A retro-futuristic romp, literally and figuratively screwy. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-544-98731-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: June 2, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2020
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