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THE BI BOOK

Name: THE BI BOOK
Author: A.J. Irving
ISBN: 9780593571828

by A.J. Irving ; illustrated by Cynthia Alonso ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 20, 2025

Potentially perplexing, though rewarding for the right reader—and empowering for all.

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On a day at the beach, two children discover words that start with the prefix bi.

“Many words that start with ‘bi’ mean two,” Irving informs readers. The kids in Alonso’s illustrations watch a biennial plant grow, then ride bicycles with their grown-ups to the seaside. Legs outstretched, the youngsters proudly proclaim themselves to be bipeds, watch a whale through a pair of binoculars, and explore bivalve sea creatures and the concept of bilateral symmetry in butterflies. Other families at the beach introduce the terms bilingual and biracial. Irving closes with a bi word that “can mean ‘more than two’”: bisexuality, since “bi hearts love in a rainbow of ways.” Some of the concepts will be a bit abstract for young readers. A much-needed glossary goes into further detail and may allay some confusion; children and their adults will need to put in some work to understand these terms, but those interested in finding connections between words and concepts will be intrigued. The book’s soft, powdery illustrations rely heavily on the iconic pink, purple, and blue of the bi flag, particularly in the final spread, which shows silhouetted figures on the beach as the sun sets, with the phrase “Bi is beautiful” written in the sky. One of the children has dirty blond hair and pale skin, while the other has curly pigtails and light brown skin.

Potentially perplexing, though rewarding for the right reader—and empowering for all. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: May 20, 2025

ISBN: 9780593571828

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: March 8, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: tomorrow

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
THE WISHING FLOWER
by A.J. Irving ; illustrated by Kip Alizadeh

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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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IMANI'S MOON

by JaNay Brown-Wood ; illustrated by Hazel Mitchell ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 14, 2014

While the blend of folklore, fantasy and realism is certainly far-fetched, Imani, with her winning personality, is a child...

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Imani endures the insults heaped upon her by the other village children, but she never gives up her dreams.

The Masai girl is tiny compared to the other children, but she is full of imagination and perseverance. Luckily, she has a mother who believes in her and tells her stories that will fuel that imagination. Mama tells her about the moon goddess, Olapa, who wins over the sun god. She tells Imani about Anansi, the trickster spider who vanquishes a larger snake. (Troublingly, the fact that Anansi is a West African figure, not of the Masai, goes unaddressed in both text and author’s note.) Inspired, the tiny girl tries to find new ways to achieve her dream: to touch the moon. One day, after crashing to the ground yet again when her leafy wings fail, she is ready to forget her hopes. That night, she witnesses the adumu, the special warriors’ jumping dance. Imani wakes the next morning, determined to jump to the moon. After jumping all day, she reaches the moon, meets Olapa and receives a special present from the goddess, a small moon rock. Now she becomes the storyteller when she relates her adventure to Mama. The watercolor-and-graphite illustrations have been enhanced digitally, and the night scenes of storytelling and fantasy with their glowing stars and moons have a more powerful impact than the daytime scenes, with their blander colors.

While the blend of folklore, fantasy and realism is certainly far-fetched, Imani, with her winning personality, is a child to be admired. (Picture book. 5-8)