Gender and stereotyping are popular themes for picture books; readers are blessed with the opportunity to choose almost any...
A rhyming story about being yourself.
Travis likes basketball, dress-up, and ballet. In wooden, unnecessary rhymes, he comes across bullies, both boys and girls: “Sometimes my classmates, / When on the playground / Like staring and judging / And cutting me down.” Confident Travis stands up to his gender-policing peers, declaring “I am who I am! / There’s no boy and girl line. / In sports or in dress-up, / I’ll sparkle and shine. // The toys that we play with, / Or clothes that we wear, / express who we are / And our natural flair.” Illustrations directly mirror the text in blocky, flat graphics. The hammer-headed message, that kids should express themselves regardless of gender stereotypes, is fine. Excruciating verse, with rhymes both wrenched and forced, detracts significantly from the already-uninspired story. At one point Travis, a black child with short, natural hair, confusingly says “I swish back my hair”; in the backmatter readers learn that the author was inspired by a former student, a white boy with much more swishable hair. The haphazard selection of other inspirations includes Coco Chanel and Langston Hughes. “Just like Travis, these people struggled against the opinions of others, but they persevered and soon dazzled in their own ways,” an anodyne way to refer to misogyny, racism, and homophobia.
Gender and stereotyping are popular themes for picture books; readers are blessed with the opportunity to choose almost any other . (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: April 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-9976085-6-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Cardinal Rule Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.
Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Sadly, the storytelling runs aground.
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)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-72822-355-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2020
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