A yum for the tum and heart.
When Tía Mimi is gone for the day, it’s up to little Carina to make delicious empanadas.
Saturdays bring fun times and the pumping beats of salsa on the radio when Carina visits Tía Mimi to knead and fry empanadas and sing, “I like empanadas! I like you!” But then Tía Mimi goes to volunteer at the Community Meal Center one day. Oh no! Can Carina make empanadas on her own? Accompanied by her mom, Carina explores Tía Mimi’s barrio and gathers the ingredients she needs: coriander at Aamir’s Market (useful for samosas, too), achiote from Lila’s Jamaican patties street cart, “garlic from the market selling mandu, and onions from the deli selling pierogies.” Ah, and beef, which Carina gets from Mrs. Chang, who’s making dumplings. All set, Carina stirs up the food, but Tía Mimi still isn’t home when the sun slips down. To feed a busy Tía Mimi, Carina rallies the barrio and heads over to the Meal Center, each neighbor with food reminiscent of empanadas from their own culture. An ode to diverse communities, Kramer and Wen’s joint effort exudes compassion and generosity. Kramer overstuffs the narrative with lovely turns of phrases, although the story gets lost amid the lengthy vivid language at times. Full of warm colors like soft yellows and oranges, the artwork complements Carina’s adventure; Tía Mimi and Carina are Latine and brown-skinned, while the neighborhood is a diverse one. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A yum for the tum and heart. (author’s note, recipe for beef or chicken Puerto Rican empanadas) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2023
ISBN: 9781665914581
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2023
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.
In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.
Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780063387843
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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