Well-intentioned but clumsily executed.
A red-spectacled Black youngster has had it with being small!
Everyone in class can whoosh around on the big rides at the fair while this kid is stuck twirling about on the boring kiddie rides. It’s humiliating trying on older brother’s hand-me-downs: None of them fit. Fed up, the kid flings Teddy Bear into the air—and into a tall tree! How to rescue Teddy? Gorging on greens to force a growth spurt just produces gas. Emulating a potted flower just gets the narrator muddy and wet. Teddy is doomed. Along comes a White-presenting girl who towers over the narrator, but even she can’t reach the beleaguered bear. The kid gets another idea. What if the narrator climbs on her shoulders? Voilà—success! Teddy, the narrator, and the girl become bosom buddies, regardless of their height disparity. “So yes, I am small, / But now I don’t mind. / I’ve made a new friend, / and she’s mightily kind!” Alas, Anderson’s perky (some might say cutesy) rhyme scheme isn’t enough to overcome the plot holes (where did that tree come from, anyway?) and the fact that this Black child needs the help of a White kid to solve the problem. Moreover, the story indicates no benefits to being small—despite the flap copy’s promise of reinforcement of self-esteem. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Well-intentioned but clumsily executed. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: July 13, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-11731-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted...
Reinvention is the name of the game for two blobs of clay.
A blue-eyed gray blob and a brown-eyed brown blob sit side by side, unsure as to what’s going to happen next. The gray anticipates an adventure, while the brown appears apprehensive. A pair of hands descends, and soon, amid a flurry of squishing and prodding and poking and sculpting, a handsome gray wolf and a stately brown owl emerge. The hands disappear, leaving the friends to their own devices. The owl is pleased, but the wolf convinces it that the best is yet to come. An ear pulled here and an extra eye placed there, and before you can shake a carving stick, a spurt of frenetic self-exploration—expressed as a tangled black scribble—reveals a succession of smug hybrid beasts. After all, the opportunity to become a “pig-e-phant” doesn’t come around every day. But the sound of approaching footsteps panics the pair of Picassos. How are they going to “fix [them]selves” on time? Soon a hippopotamus and peacock are staring bug-eyed at a returning pair of astonished hands. The creative naiveté of the “clay mates” is perfectly captured by Petty’s feisty, spot-on dialogue: “This was your idea…and it was a BAD one.” Eldridge’s endearing sculpted images are photographed against the stark white background of an artist’s work table to great effect.
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted fun of their own . (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-30311-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre.
Ice princess Lina must navigate family and school in this early chapter read.
The family picnic is today. This is not a typical gathering, since Lina’s maternal relatives are a royal family of Windtamers who have power over the weather and live in castles floating on clouds. Lina herself is mixed race, with black hair and a tan complexion like her Asian-presenting mother’s; her Groundling father appears to be a white human. While making a grand entrance at the castle of her grandfather, the North Wind, she fails to successfully ride a gust of wind and crashes in front of her entire family. This prompts her stern grandfather to ask that Lina move in with him so he can teach her to control her powers. Desperate to avoid this, Lina and her friend Claudia, who is black, get Lina accepted at the Hilltop Science and Arts Academy. Lina’s parents allow her to go as long as she does lessons with grandpa on Saturdays. However, fitting in at a Groundling school is rough, especially when your powers start freak winter storms! With the story unfurling in diary format, bright-pink–highlighted grayscale illustrations help move the plot along. There are slight gaps in the storytelling and the pacing is occasionally uneven, but Lina is full of spunk and promotes self-acceptance.
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre. (Fantasy. 5-8)Pub Date: June 25, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-35393-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
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