JULIA, CHILD

Name: JULIA, CHILD
Author: Kyo Maclear
ISBN: 978-1-77049-449-7

by Kyo Maclear ; illustrated by Julie Morstad ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 8, 2014

Intriguing for an adult familiar with the real Julia and perhaps for the perceptive child who will understand that it’s not...

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A mere hint of Julia Child’s collaboration with Simone “Simca” Beck informs this look at how following one’s passion can require the fearless enthusiasm of childhood.

Though in reality Julia and Simca met as adults, here Julia is very young when she has a taste of sole meunière and falls in love with French cooking. She and friend Simca are just two young girls who meet on weekends to “shop at the market and gather new ideas and recipes.” They form a sisterly bond and imagine cooking together always. Morstad’s lively art uses Photoshop, ink and gouache, telegraphing a suggestion of the ink-and-watercolor work of mid-20th-century artists like Sasek and Bemelmans. Maclear manages—just—to avoid being directly didactic when, concerned about the sober and dreary adults around them, Julia and Simca prepare “recipes for growing young.” Still, there’s a rich dollop of sentimentality in the way that the two young cooks bring “all sorts of big, busy people” to a remembrance of childhood pleasures. The result is a lighthearted, if slightly obscure allegory about inspiration and its gifts.

Intriguing for an adult familiar with the real Julia and perhaps for the perceptive child who will understand that it’s not about how old you are, or about what you cook, but about what you bring to the table. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: July 8, 2014

ISBN: 978-1-77049-449-7

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Tundra Books

Review Posted Online: May 3, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2014

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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THERE'S A GHOST IN THE GARDEN
by Kyo Maclear ; illustrated by Katty Maurey

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NOODLES ON A BICYCLE
by Kyo Maclear ; illustrated by Gracey Zhang

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IF YOU WERE A CITY
by Kyo Maclear ; illustrated by Francesca Sanna

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: June 21, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

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FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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IMANI'S MOON

by JaNay Brown-Wood ; illustrated by Hazel Mitchell ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 14, 2014

While the blend of folklore, fantasy and realism is certainly far-fetched, Imani, with her winning personality, is a child...

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Imani endures the insults heaped upon her by the other village children, but she never gives up her dreams.

The Masai girl is tiny compared to the other children, but she is full of imagination and perseverance. Luckily, she has a mother who believes in her and tells her stories that will fuel that imagination. Mama tells her about the moon goddess, Olapa, who wins over the sun god. She tells Imani about Anansi, the trickster spider who vanquishes a larger snake. (Troublingly, the fact that Anansi is a West African figure, not of the Masai, goes unaddressed in both text and author’s note.) Inspired, the tiny girl tries to find new ways to achieve her dream: to touch the moon. One day, after crashing to the ground yet again when her leafy wings fail, she is ready to forget her hopes. That night, she witnesses the adumu, the special warriors’ jumping dance. Imani wakes the next morning, determined to jump to the moon. After jumping all day, she reaches the moon, meets Olapa and receives a special present from the goddess, a small moon rock. Now she becomes the storyteller when she relates her adventure to Mama. The watercolor-and-graphite illustrations have been enhanced digitally, and the night scenes of storytelling and fantasy with their glowing stars and moons have a more powerful impact than the daytime scenes, with their blander colors.

While the blend of folklore, fantasy and realism is certainly far-fetched, Imani, with her winning personality, is a child to be admired. (Picture book. 5-8)