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NO ONE OWNS THE COLORS

Name: NO ONE OWNS THE COLORS
Author: Gianna Davy
ISBN: 978-1-951412-96-8

by Gianna Davy ; illustrated by Brenda Rodriguez ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 7, 2023

A less than successful effort to get readers rethinking assumptions about colors; look at a nice rainbow instead.

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A rhyming text about colors and genders.

“If pink is for girls,” this book begins, “then it’s also for squirrels, because no one owns the colors.” The following assertion, “They say blue is for boys? / Well that just annoys, / because no one owns the colors,” sets up 28 similar pages, explaining how colors ranging from chartreuse to mocha to fuchsia all exist in nature but not within strict human gender binaries. Children are provided with scripts for how to respond if anyone tries to convince them otherwise, but it’s cringe-inducing to imagine a young person responding to a bully with “Do ocean waves argue / with sky over blue? Do chameleons have / only one color to use? Does red avoid yellow / and try not to touch? Or do they unite to make / neon orange crush!” or with “The trees and the frogs / and the blue ocean spray, / they all share their colors, / the dark ones and light, / and so do the rainbows / that dress the sky bright.” The unceasingly chipper tone, faulty meter, and relentless march of colors make this an exhausting read-aloud and, if shared among children with no preconceived notions about colors and gender, might even introduce bias rather than remove it. Rodriguez’s illustrations center on a tan-skinned child; other characters are diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A less than successful effort to get readers rethinking assumptions about colors; look at a nice rainbow instead. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2023

ISBN: 978-1-951412-96-8

Page Count: 32

Publisher: The Collective Book Studio

Review Posted Online: Nov. 28, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2022

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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CARPENTER'S HELPER

by Sybil Rosen ; illustrated by Camille Garoche ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.

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A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.

Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: March 16, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random

Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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LITTLE RED SLEIGH

by Erin Guendelsberger ; illustrated by Elizaveta Tretyakova ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2020

Sadly, the storytelling runs aground.

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A little red sleigh has big Christmas dreams.

Although the detailed, full-color art doesn’t anthropomorphize the protagonist (which readers will likely identify as a sled and not a sleigh), a close third-person text affords the object thoughts and feelings while assigning feminine pronouns. “She longed to become Santa’s big red sleigh,” reads an early line establishing the sleigh’s motivation to leave her Christmas-shop home for the North Pole. Other toys discourage her, but she perseveres despite creeping self-doubt. A train and truck help the sleigh along, and when she wishes she were big, fast, and powerful like them, they offer encouragement and counsel patience. When a storm descends after the sleigh strikes out on her own, an unnamed girl playing in the snow brings her to a group of children who all take turns riding the sleigh down a hill. When the girl brings her home, the sleigh is crestfallen she didn’t reach the North Pole. A convoluted happily-ever-after ending shows a note from Santa that thanks the sleigh for giving children joy and invites her to the North Pole next year. “At last she understood what she was meant to do. She would build her life up spreading joy, one child at a time.” Will she leave the girl’s house to be gifted to other children? Will she stay and somehow also reach ever more children? Readers will be left wondering. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at 31.8% of actual size.)

Sadly, the storytelling runs aground. (Picture book. 3-6)