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BIG BOYS CRY

Name: BIG BOYS CRY
Author: Jonty Howley
ISBN: 978-1-5247-7320-5

by Jonty Howley ; illustrated by Jonty Howley ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 11, 2019

A compassionate story that encourages openness and honesty about emotions.

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On his first day of school, a young boy learns it’s OK to show his feelings no matter his age.

When Levi sets out for his first day at an unfamiliar school, Papa tells him, “Big boys don’t cry,” because he doesn’t know what else to say to calm Levi’s nerves. Along the way, Levi encounters men of all different ages and many walks of life stirred to tears by sadness, art, happiness, and love. At the end of the day, Levi learns his father felt scared about sending Levi to school too, and they both agree that it’s just fine for big boys to cry after all. Debut author and illustrator Howley sets the tone for this quiet, vulnerable story with softly colored illustrations and a quaint, seaside village setting. Both Levi and his dad are white, while the background characters are diverse (though there is not much variation to the spectrum of brown depicted). Details around the home, such as the pictures on the wall, suggest that Levi’s father is a single parent. His sensitivity makes him a refreshing representation of a father character, as does his willingness to accept and grow from his mistake. The overall lesson about men showing tears is made all the more effective with its representation of a range of feelings beyond sadness.

A compassionate story that encourages openness and honesty about emotions. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: June 11, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-5247-7320-5

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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by Jonty Howley ; illustrated by Jonty Howley

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by Jonty Howley ; illustrated by Jonty Howley

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CARPENTER'S HELPER

by Sybil Rosen ; illustrated by Camille Garoche ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.

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A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.

Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: March 16, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random

Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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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)