Wargin continues her series of seasonal alphabet books (K Is for Kite: God's Springtime Alphabet, 2010, etc.) with this exploration of summertime delights interwoven with a religious message. Each page includes the traditional format (“B is for boat”) in large type along with two or four rhyming lines in smaller type and a relevant illustration. God is included in the text in simple, relevant ways (“God calms the seas”), and there is no mention of Jesus, so the book could be used by a wider audience than just Christian readers. The rhyming text reinforces concepts of kind and cooperative behavior as well as presenting God as a powerful and loving force in the natural world. The references to God in the text are not preachy, and not every page mentions God, so the religious content flows naturally within the story. Bronson's vibrant, jazzy illustrations in ripe-fruit shades are filled with sunny skies, imaginative flowers and flowing lines that suggest the lively nature of happy summer days. The pictorial story follows a family and its spotted dog as they take part in traditional summer activities, but the illustrator makes this ode to summertime soar. Her paintings are filled with motion and bright colors, with children who look like they must be laughing and having a great time enjoying the outdoors. A sunny celebration. (Picture book/religion. 2-5)
Pub Date: April 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-310-71663-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Zonderkidz
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2011
A sweet, colorful start for a Christian spiritual journey.
A cheery child gives thanks to God.
“When I see a rainbow / High up in the sky / I say a little prayer of thanks, / And here’s the reason why: // Because God loves me!” This board book’s focus is the comforting notion that God loves all his children, and no matter what, he will always look out for them. The text follows an ABCB rhyme scheme, breaking after every stanza to repeat the phrase “Because God loves me!” The small, light-skinned child has spiky brown hair and wears a dress; both the child and a chubby accompanying dog are appealingly illustrated with a bright, simple color palette and scratchy lines that appear to have been made with colored pencil. God is the only name given for the deity, implying a primarily Christian audience. The book’s message is clear, and its construction is sturdy, suiting this well to parents who are beginning to have conversations with their little readers regarding their beliefs.
A sweet, colorful start for a Christian spiritual journey. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-58925-237-0
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: Nov. 13, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
A simplistic, outdated take on Diwali for young children.
It’s Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, and Binny can’t wait to tell her class about her favorite holiday.
On their way through their North American suburb to school, Binny’s mother wishes her luck and reminds her to tell her class about the oil lamps that are a central part of their family’s Diwali tradition. But when Binny’s teacher, Mr. Boomer, invites her to share, Binny freezes, overcome with shyness. Taking a deep breath, she remembers her mother’s advice. The thought of the world filled with light—symbolizing the triumph of good over evil—gives Binny the strength she needs to tell her family’s Diwali story. While the book is thorough in its description of traditions like wearing new clothes, eating sweets, lighting lamps, and decorating floors and sidewalks with colored powder, the prose is clunky and clumsy, and Binny’s conflict is resolved so quickly that the story arc feels limp and uninteresting. Other elements of the text are troubling as well. Calling Binny’s new clothes an “Indian outfit,” for example, erases the fact that the kurta she wears is typical of the entire South Asian subcontinent. The use of most fireworks, which the author treats as an essential part of the holiday, is now banned in India due to concerns about pollution and child labor. Most problematically of all, the author continually treats Diwali as a Hindu holiday celebrated by “everyone,” which is untrue in India or in diaspora and which dangerously equates Hindu and Indian identity. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads reviewed at 49% of actual size.)
A simplistic, outdated take on Diwali for young children. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-338-36448-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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