A warmly inviting book, but the heroine’s rebelliousness suggests there’s more to the story.
In Iran, a young Muslim girl forms a strong, affectionate bond with a Jewish family, as recounted in this illustrated children’s book based on the author’s life.
Five-year-old Maryam is a bright girl full of questions. She’s “known as the family clown for all [her] funny voices and silly faces,” and she especially loves to make her sometimes sad mother laugh. She also loves the beautiful city in the south of Iran where she grows up with her parents and three older brothers, but one day her family moves to central Iran. In Isfahan, Maryam misses her friends, and at first has only her mother to talk to. The family rents a house with kind owners, a rabbi and his wife. Maryam’s mother explains that although their religions are different, they worship the same God, and Maryam should be respectful. Maryam likes Rabbi and Mrs. Sassoness and their beautiful daughter, Shahin, immediately; they welcome her chatty visits, and Shahin treats Maryam like a little sister: “They laughed as if they belonged to one family.” This warm acceptance helps soothe Maryam’s frequently hurt pride. She goes to kindergarten but is expelled for asking too many questions. She later attends a school where she’s allowed to skip a grade. Eventually the family moves into their own home, but Rabbi Sassoness will still play a role in her future life. Omid (Mr. Nightingale, 2012, etc.) dedicates her book to the Sassonesses and intends it as “a gesture of love from one Iranian to all Jewish people around the world.” But Maryam’s interactions with the family take up very little of the narrative; her most significant encounter (the rabbi helps teenage Maryam rediscover her faith) is merely mentioned in an aside. More central is Maryam’s struggle with pride in a culture that expects women and children to be quietly deferential. When she triumphs over one of her brothers, she never lets him forget it, and that fieriness (as much as anything) captures the true spirit of this book.
A warmly inviting book, but the heroine’s rebelliousness suggests there’s more to the story.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Dog Ear Publisher
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This frenetic ode to fatherhood is predictable fare but may please series fans.
It’s time to look for the elusive Daddysaurus.
In this latest installment in the seemingly never-ending series about a group of diverse kids attempting to trap mythical creatures, the youngsters are now on the lookout for a big mauve dinosaur with an emblazoned D on his stomach and a superhero cape. The fast-moving Daddysaurus is always on the go; he will be difficult to catch. Armed with blueprints of possible ideas, the kids decide which traps to set. As in previous works, ones of the sticky variety seem popular. They cover barbells with fly paper (Daddysaurus like to exercise) and spread glue on the handle of a shovel (Daddysaurus also likes to garden). One clever trick involves tempting Daddysaurus with a drawing of a hole, taped to the wall, because he fixes everything that breaks. Daddysaurus is certainly engaged in the children’s lives, not a workaholic or absent, but he does fall into some standard tropes associated with fathers. The rhyming quatrains stumble at times but for the most part bounce along. Overall, though, text and art feel somewhat formulaic and likely will tempt only devotees of the series. The final page of the book (after Daddysaurus is caught with love) has a space for readers to write a note or draw a picture of their own Daddysaurus. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
This frenetic ode to fatherhood is predictable fare but may please series fans. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-72826-618-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.
The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.
When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
