REGGIE RED

Name: REGGIE RED
Author: Josie Layton
ISBN: 978-1-4994-8961-3

by Josie Layton ; illustrated by Rebecca Timmis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 15, 2022

A well-intentioned story about body positivity and inner beauty that could benefit from the prescription to show, not tell.

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Reggie Red, a young White girl, is so named because of her freckles and ruddy hair “with curls so big.”

Photo day is coming up in school, and Reggie wants to look like the girls she has seen in pictures online. She attempts to straighten her hair and make it lie flat. When that fails, she resorts to coloring her hair brown using chocolate sauce but merely makes a huge, sticky mess. She tries covering her freckles with her grandmother’s makeup and even tries on Grandma’s silver wig. Unsatisfied and dejected, she turns to her mother, who teaches her that many online photos are fake and dispenses wisdom: “Beauty is like / the roots of a tree. / The parts that matter / are the ones you can't see.” Comforted, Reggie goes to school on photo day feeling “radiant” and “light as a feather.” When she discovers that Tilly, the tallest girl in class, is self-conscious about her height, Reggie knows just what to say to her. Layton’s narrative offers a much-needed reminder that confidence looks different on everyone; however, the text is pedestrian, the rhymes are sometimes forced, and the constructions occasionally awkward. Timmis’ cartoony digital illustrations are serviceable but not much more. Body acceptance is framed as a purely female issue, which feels out of touch. The main cast is White. Contrary to the book’s message about body diversity, background characters are all slim and mostly White.

A well-intentioned story about body positivity and inner beauty that could benefit from the prescription to show, not tell. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Jan. 15, 2022

ISBN: 978-1-4994-8961-3

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Windmill Books

Review Posted Online: Dec. 15, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2022

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HEALTH & DAILY LIVING

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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

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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)