Quietly, delightfully superb.
Henkes’ third book centered on the Miller family—after the Newbery Honor The Year of Billy Miller (2014) and Billy Miller Makes a Wish (2021)—follows Billy’s 4-year-old sister, Sal.
Sal’s New Year’s Day has plenty of big moments of misunderstanding—and understanding. She is full of feelings today and sheds more than a few tears. Two people in her household seem like interlopers—the new baby, just over a week old, who doesn’t yet have a name, and Papa's younger brother, Uncle Jake, whose exuberance and habit of calling her Salamander are extremely irritating. Plus, she's misplaced a treasured gift from Santa—her favorite pair of a set of seven flower-themed underpants. Henkes’ keen awareness of the ways it is hard and constantly revelatory to be a child gives this simple family story a sense of heart and happiness. Endearing spot drawings—Sal imagining elves making underwear, for example—convey whimsy and cheer. The third-person narrative sticks close to Sal, observing this close, loving household from her perspective. Though Sal knows that Uncle Jack and Papa are brothers, her surprise when she realizes that her uncle is her father’s younger brother (“…she never thought of them as kids. And she never thought about who was older. All adults seemed generally the same age to her”) is a realistic example of how children make sense of family relationships and the world. Henkes channels the inner lives of his protagonists with sensitivity and respect—his audience will feel seen. Characters are cued White.
Quietly, delightfully superb. (Fiction. 5-9)Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-324492-4
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: July 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2022
PERSPECTIVES
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
Wins for compassion and for the refusal to let physical limitations hold one back.
With such short arms, how can Tiny T. Rex give a sad friend a hug?
Fleck goes for cute in the simple, minimally detailed illustrations, drawing the diminutive theropod with a chubby turquoise body and little nubs for limbs under a massive, squared-off head. Impelled by the sight of stegosaurian buddy Pointy looking glum, little Tiny sets out to attempt the seemingly impossible, a comforting hug. Having made the rounds seeking advice—the dino’s pea-green dad recommends math; purple, New Age aunt offers cucumber juice (“That is disgusting”); red mom tells him that it’s OK not to be able to hug (“You are tiny, but your heart is big!”), and blue and yellow older sibs suggest practice—Tiny takes up the last as the most immediately useful notion. Unfortunately, the “tree” the little reptile tries to hug turns out to be a pterodactyl’s leg. “Now I am falling,” Tiny notes in the consistently self-referential narrative. “I should not have let go.” Fortunately, Tiny lands on Pointy’s head, and the proclamation that though Rexes’ hugs may be tiny, “I will do my very best because you are my very best friend” proves just the mood-lightening ticket. “Thank you, Tiny. That was the biggest hug ever.” Young audiences always find the “clueless grown-ups” trope a knee-slapper, the overall tone never turns preachy, and Tiny’s instinctive kindness definitely puts him at (gentle) odds with the dinky dino star of Bob Shea’s Dinosaur Vs. series.
Wins for compassion and for the refusal to let physical limitations hold one back. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: March 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4521-7033-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 11, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2018
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