A powerful work, formidably illustrated.
Minimal text accents full-bleed, emotive watercolor illustrations in this Portuguese import from celebrated author and poet José Jorge Letria and his illustrator son.
The book opens with a near-black, abstract spread populated with spidery, serpentine shadows that subsequently creep and crawl across a stark landscape. A crow or raven leads the mass of darkness as “war spreads through the day like a whispered, swift disease” until it reaches a dark building inhabited by a faceless, uniformed human figure. Spiders, centipedes, beetles, and snakes march across a map-covered table as the ominous human leader dons a medieval jousting helm, sets books alight, and musters armies. Wordless spreads in dark, muted grays, military greens, and dull browns feature toy-soldier–like rows of faceless infantrymen, 1940s-style planes dropping bombs over a darkened European city, and the dark clouds and rubble the maneuvers leave in their wake. While not, perhaps, an obvious choice for young audiences well removed from the horrors of war, the frank but thoughtful wording and masterfully abstracted illustrations will provide an opportunity for caregivers to broach the heavy subject matter in a safe environment. War, personified, “feeds on hate, ambition, and spite” and is “never able to tell stories”—but this book is sure to open a door for processing and healing. Of particular note is a spread of surreal, wriggly human figures, so small as to cohere into a pattern rather than an illustration, bookended by “War is thunder and chaos” and “War is silence.”
A powerful work, formidably illustrated. (Picture book. 4-10)Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-77164-726-7
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Aldana Libros/Greystone Kids
Review Posted Online: July 29, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
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
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
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