Like Daisy encouraging Digger to dive, this work is a welcoming invitation to read and a sweet encouragement to spend time...
In this early reader, a dog learns from his sister what he can and cannot do like other animals on a visit to the zoo.
It is a hot day, so Digger, a spirited pup, and his older sister, Daisy, decide to go to the zoo. “Digger and Daisy look at birds. They see big birds. They see little birds. / Red birds. Green birds. Yellow and blue birds, too.” There is a nice rhythm to that, and it’s accompanied by cartoony artwork that readers will relate to, since, despite its subtle sophistication and adept lines, they might fancy they could do the same. Digger tries to imitate a flamingo standing on one leg, and he tumbles over. His sister tells him that he can’t do that but that he can walk on two legs. On through the zoo. “I want to climb a tree,” says Digger, inspired by monkeys. No chance. But his sister reminds him that he can climb stairs, till they are eye to eye with the giraffe. When they spy the duck pond, Digger asks if he might go in. His sister concurs, but Digger balks, since he had failed so many times that day. But his sister encourages him, until he takes the plunge. It’s a lovely little tribute to sibling camaraderie.
Like Daisy encouraging Digger to dive, this work is a welcoming invitation to read and a sweet encouragement to spend time with siblings. (Early reader. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-58536-841-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: July 2, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Mixed-race children certainly deserve mirror books, but they also deserve excellent text and illustrations. This one misses...
This tan-skinned, freckle-faced narrator extols her own virtues while describing the challenges of being of mixed race.
Protagonist Lilly appears on the cover, and her voluminous curly, twirly hair fills the image. Throughout the rhyming narrative, accompanied by cartoonish digital illustrations, Lilly brags on her dark skin (that isn’t very), “frizzy, wild” hair, eyebrows, intellect, and more. Her five friends present black, Asian, white (one blonde, one redheaded), and brown (this last uses a wheelchair). This array smacks of tokenism, since the protagonist focuses only on self-promotion, leaving no room for the friends’ character development. Lilly describes how hurtful racial microaggressions can be by recalling questions others ask her like “What are you?” She remains resilient and says that even though her skin and hair make her different, “the way that I look / Is not all I’m about.” But she spends so much time talking about her appearance that this may be hard for readers to believe. The rhyming verse that conveys her self-celebration is often clumsy and forced, resulting in a poorly written, plotless story for which the internal illustrations fall far short of the quality of the cover image.
Mixed-race children certainly deserve mirror books, but they also deserve excellent text and illustrations. This one misses the mark on both counts. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 14, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-63233-170-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Eifrig
Review Posted Online: June 10, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
Fun, fun, fun all through the town!
This book’s gonna werk, werk, werk all through Pride Month and beyond.
Drag persona Lil Miss Hot Mess rewrites “The Wheels on the Bus” to create a fun, movement-filled, family-friendly celebration of drag. The text opens with the titular verse to establish the familiar song’s formulaic pattern: “The hips on the drag queen go SWISH, SWISH, SWISH… / ALL THROUGH THE TOWN!” Along the way, more and more drag queens join in the celebration. The unnamed queens proudly display a range of skin tones, sizes, and body modifications to create a diverse cast of realistic characters that could easily be spotted at a Pride event or on RuPaul’s Drag Race. The palette of both costumes and backgrounds is appropriately psychedelic, and there are plenty of jewels going “BLING, BLING, BLING.” Don’t tell the queens, but the flow is the book’s real star, because it encourages natural kinetic participation that will have groups of young readers giggling and miming along with the story. Libraries and bookshops hosting drag-queen storytimes will find this a popular choice, and those celebrating LGBTQ+ heritage will also find this a useful book for the pre-K crowd. Curious children unfamiliar with a drag queen may require a brief explanation, but the spectacle stands up just fine on its own platforms.
Fun, fun, fun all through the town! (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: May 5, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-7624-6765-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Running Press Kids
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
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