A sweet tale about the power of food, laced with meaningful lessons.
Can taste and smell help Grandpa recognize his grandchild?
“On the days we make meatballs for Grandpa, my feet fly up my grandparents’ driveway.” A double-page spread shows a child—auburn hair tied back in a ribbon, red-shoed feet sprinting houseward, loose shirt and green skirt flapping. Turning the page, readers learn that although Grandpa hugs Felicia, “sadness pokes through my smile when Grandpa looks at me without knowing who I am.” Grandma cheerfully tells Felicia not to worry: “Taste and smell are all we need.” She winks when Felicia asks whether Grandma is referring to meatballs or Grandpa. In the kitchen, Grandpa continues to look confused, even when reminded of his own nickname for Felicia. Felicia and Grandma prepare a pot with olive oil, garlic, and onion and let Grandpa pour in a can of tomatoes. Giggles ensue. Colorful, semirealistic art and an excellent layout complement the text, showing the trio happily engaged. Throughout, Felicia’s joy is intermittently punctuated by worry about Grandpa. The text continues its gentle humor and carefully chosen phrases—including some in (translated) Italian—until the table is set and all three sit down to a dinner of spaghetti and meatballs. Readers with relatives affected by dementia now have Grandma as a role model; all readers will feel closure from Grandpa’s breakthrough moment. Characters are light-skinned.
A sweet tale about the power of food, laced with meaningful lessons. (author’s note, recipe) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 12, 2024
ISBN: 9781662512049
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Two Lions
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2024
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
Though Jim may have been grumpy because a chimp’s an ape and not a monkey, readers will enjoy and maybe learn from his...
It’s a wonderful day in the jungle, so why’s Jim Panzee so grumpy?
When Jim woke up, nothing was right: "The sun was too bright, the sky was too blue, and bananas were too sweet." Norman the gorilla asks Jim why he’s so grumpy, and Jim insists he’s not. They meet Marabou, to whom Norman confides that Jim’s grumpy. When Jim denies it again, Marabou points out that Jim’s shoulders are hunched; Jim stands up. When they meet Lemur, Lemur points out Jim’s bunchy eyebrows; Jim unbunches them. When he trips over Snake, Snake points out Jim’s frown…so Jim puts on a grimacelike smile. Everyone has suggestions to brighten his mood: dancing, singing, swinging, swimming…but Jim doesn’t feel like any of that. He gets so fed up, he yells at his animal friends and stomps off…then he feels sad about yelling. He and Norman (who regrets dancing with that porcupine) finally just have a sit and decide it’s a wonderful day to be grumpy—which, of course, makes them both feel a little better. Suzanne Lang’s encouragement to sit with your emotions (thus allowing them to pass) is nearly Buddhist in its take, and it will be great bibliotherapy for the crabby, cranky, and cross. Oscar-nominated animator Max Lang’s cartoony illustrations lighten the mood without making light of Jim’s mood; Jim has comically long arms, and his facial expressions are quite funny.
Though Jim may have been grumpy because a chimp’s an ape and not a monkey, readers will enjoy and maybe learn from his journey. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: May 15, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-553-53786-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Feb. 18, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
