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THE WORLD BELONGED TO US

Name: THE WORLD BELONGED TO US
Author: Jacqueline Woodson
ISBN: 978-0-399-54549-8

by Jacqueline Woodson ; illustrated by Leo Espinosa ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 10, 2022

A dream team of talent show and tell a delightful story of summers gone by.

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Kids burst out of school and into summer vacation.

Now they can play outside all day till the streetlights come on, when moms call them home. This nostalgic homage to Woodson’s childhood in her beloved Brooklyn evokes the senses: the sounds of laughter and double Dutch rhymes, the sight of sidewalk chalk and bottle cap games, and the taste of an ice cream cone with rainbow sprinkles from the ice cream truck. The refrain, “In Brooklyn / in the summer / not so long ago,” appears in text the color of summer heat: red, orange, yellow. The bell-bottom plaid pants; white, knee-high, color-ringed tube socks; and loud-and-proud Afros pinpoint this story’s ’60s or ’70s setting. The amazing diversity of the neighborhood comes through both in Espinosa’s lively, colorful retro illustrations, which depict Black, brown, and White children, and Woodson’s lyrical text, which describes kids calling “out to each other / in Spanish / in English / in Polish / in German / in Chinese.” They also get along well, with the older kids looking out for the younger ones and those with ice cream money sharing with those without “because some days the ones with no money / were us.” Espinosa depicts many characters with mouths wide open, emphasizing their unbridled delight and loudness. Author and illustrator offer a refreshing reminder of a pre-internet time when full-immersion play was the summer activity and kids took full advantage. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A dream team of talent show and tell a delightful story of summers gone by. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: May 10, 2022

ISBN: 978-0-399-54549-8

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books

Review Posted Online: March 29, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2022

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HEALTH & DAILY LIVING

- BOOK REVIEW
REMEMBER US
by Jacqueline Woodson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE YEAR WE LEARNED TO FLY
by Jacqueline Woodson ; illustrated by Rafael López

- BOOK REVIEW
BEFORE THE EVER AFTER
by Jacqueline Woodson

- PERSPECTIVES
9 Children’s Books That Center Diverse Characters

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PIRATES DON'T TAKE BATHS

by John Segal and illustrated by John Segal ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2011

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Echoes of Runaway Bunny color this exchange between a bath-averse piglet and his patient mother. Using a strategy that would probably be a nonstarter in real life, the mother deflects her stubborn offspring’s string of bath-free occupational conceits with appeals to reason: “Pirates NEVER EVER take baths!” “Pirates don’t get seasick either. But you do.” “Yeesh. I’m an astronaut, okay?” “Well, it is hard to bathe in zero gravity. It’s hard to poop and pee in zero gravity too!” And so on, until Mom’s enticing promise of treasure in the deep sea persuades her little Treasure Hunter to take a dive. Chunky figures surrounded by lots of bright white space in Segal’s minimally detailed watercolors keep the visuals as simple as the plotline. The language isn’t quite as basic, though, and as it rendered entirely in dialogue—Mother Pig’s lines are italicized—adult readers will have to work hard at their vocal characterizations for it to make any sense. Moreover, younger audiences (any audiences, come to that) may wonder what the piggy’s watery closing “EUREKA!!!” is all about too. Not particularly persuasive, but this might coax a few young porkers to get their trotters into the tub. (Picture book. 4-6)

Pub Date: March 1, 2011

ISBN: 978-0-399-25425-3

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Philomel

Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2011

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S HEALTH & DAILY LIVING

- BOOK REVIEW
FAR FAR AWAY!
by John Segal & illustrated by John Segal

- BOOK REVIEW
ALISTAIR AND KIP’S GREAT ADVENTURE!
by John Segal & illustrated by John Segal

- BOOK REVIEW
THE LONELY MOOSE
by John Segal & illustrated by John Segal

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SICK SIMON

by Dan Krall ; illustrated by Dan Krall ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 13, 2015

Though the science is not particularly solid, the message is an important one, and with the level of gross in the...

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Krall’s latest is a disgusting, tongue-in-cheek lesson in contagiousness.

Simon loves school so much that even a cold (with its attendant snotty nose) won’t keep him home. He kisses his family and boards the bus, proceeding to vomit out the window on the way: “He…had fun the whole way,” the text understates. The merest contact or proximity leads others to suddenly, and unrealistically, sport Simon’s symptoms. The week includes show-and-tell, a zoo field trip, a game of kickball and a child-free bus on Friday afternoon, all the children having finally succumbed to his illness. The three germs that have been following him around all week finally introduce themselves and high-five him for being such a “germ hero.” Horrified, Simon does his best to stop their spread, washing his hands, covering his mouth, resting and hydrating, though the same cannot be said for one classmate on Monday morning. Krall’s illustrations work in the ick factor, his Photoshopped characters sporting oozing and dripping poison-green noses as each comes into contact with Simon. Careful observers may spot the colorful germs before they introduce themselves, but even those who don’t will want to go back and try to find all their appearances.

Though the science is not particularly solid, the message is an important one, and with the level of gross in the illustrations, it is sure to get through to young audiences. (Picture book. 4-8)