Havill and O’Brien team up for a sixth offering about Jamaica, the second in the series to include Jamaica’s Asian-American friend, Brianna (Jamaica and Brianna, 1999, etc.). In this dance-themed story, the girls are enrolled in the same ballet school, along with Brianna’s older sister, Nikki. For their spring recital, each girl is assigned a role in the “Dance of Spring,” but repeated casting changes have to be made due to an epidemic of strep throat. Of course, the show must go on, with Jamaica moving a step up to the part of a bumblebee. Nikki and Brianna both get sick and have to miss the recital, but later, all three girls give an at-home performance of their dances for their attentive families. Jamaica plays a peripheral role in this entry in the series, which really focuses more on Brianna and Nikki and their disappointment in missing an important event that looms large at every dance school. The story offers a look at an issue that is hard for kids (and parents) to face: sometimes we get sick and have to stay home to recover, no matter how important the missed event. O’Brien’s watercolor and pastel illustrations show cute, expressive children, but their dance-class attire and the positions of their legs and feet while dancing aren’t exactly precise. Jamaica’s fans will enjoy reading about another aspect of her life just the same, and further adventures for Jamaica and Brianna seem likely in this popular ongoing series. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: March 25, 2002
ISBN: 0-618-07700-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2002
Give this child’s-eye view of a day at the beach with an attentive father high marks for coziness: “When your ball blows across the sand and into the ocean and starts to drift away, your daddy could say, Didn’t I tell you not to play too close to the waves? But he doesn’t. He wades out into the cold water. And he brings your ball back to the beach and plays roll and catch with you.” Alley depicts a moppet and her relaxed-looking dad (to all appearances a single parent) in informally drawn beach and domestic settings: playing together, snuggling up on the sofa and finally hugging each other goodnight. The third-person voice is a bit distancing, but it makes the togetherness less treacly, and Dad’s mix of love and competence is less insulting, to parents and children both, than Douglas Wood’s What Dads Can’t Do (2000), illus by Doug Cushman. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: May 23, 2005
ISBN: 0-618-00361-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2005
This multigenerational snuggle will encourage the sharing of old memories and the creation of new ones.
Hill and Bobbiesi send a humungous hug from grandmothers to their granddaughters everywhere.
Delicate cartoon art adds details to the rhyming text showing multigenerational commonalities. “You and I are alike in such wonderful ways. / You will see more and more as you grow” (as grandmother and granddaughter enjoy the backyard together); “I wobbled uncertainly just as you did / whenever I tried something new” (as a toddler takes first steps); “And if a bad dream woke me up in the night, / I snuggled up with my lovey too” (grandmother kisses granddaughter, who clutches a plush narwhal). Grandmother-granddaughter pairs share everyday joys like eating ice cream, dancing “in the rain,” and making “up silly games.” Although some activities skew stereotypically feminine (baking, yoga), a grandmother helps with a quintessential volcano experiment (this pair presents black, adding valuable STEM representation), another cheers on a young wheelchair athlete (both present Asian), and a third, wearing a hijab, accompanies her brown-skinned granddaughter on a peace march, as it is “important to speak out for what you believe.” The message of unconditional love is clear throughout: “When you need me, I’ll be there to listen and care. / There is nothing that keeps us apart.” The finished book will include “stationery…for a special letter from Grandma to you!”
This multigenerational snuggle will encourage the sharing of old memories and the creation of new ones. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-7282-0623-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
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