A gentle family- and community-centered read that dog lovers will lap right up.
With friends, dogs, and a little bit of initiative, there’s no challenge too big to overcome.
Eleven-year-old Sophie, her mom, and their beloved pups are moving from rural Vermont to Boston for her mom’s work and to be closer to Sophie’s godmother, Lori. Despite her nerves about entering a new school, Sophie’s looking forward to meeting neighborhood humans and dogs and, as the child of a white mom and Black dad, no longer being the only brown girl at school. Soon after they arrive, Sophie meets a teenage neighbor named Juno, who presents white, and her pug, Bonney. Bonney has a “compromised respiratory system,” and she might need a pricey surgery that Juno’s family can’t afford. The girls use canine alter egos to create the Barking Puppy, a funny newspaper “by and for dogs.” Sophie’s mom suggests that they parlay their creativity into a fundraiser for Bonney by selling the papers. Apart from some rudeness from a grouchy neighbor, the adults in the story are helpful and supportive, making this an emotionally reassuring read. Kid-friendly illustrations nicely break up the text, making this a good choice for readers who are building their chapter-book stamina. This feel-good dog story (inspired by the experiences of the author’s goddaughter) includes some conversations around identity that will invite opportunities for discussion, as when Sophie and Lori, who’s white and gay, talk about their shared experiences of feeling isolated and alone.
A gentle family- and community-centered read that dog lovers will lap right up. (photos) (Fiction. 7-11)Pub Date: April 1, 2025
ISBN: 9781646145058
Page Count: 248
Publisher: Levine Querido
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
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
We challenge anyone to read this and keep a straight face.
Four misunderstood villains endeavor to turn over a new leaf…or a new rap sheet in Blabey's frenzied romp.
As readers open the first page of this early chapter book, Mr. Wolf is right there to greet them, bemoaning his reputation. "Just because I've got BIG POINTY TEETH and RAZOR-SHARP CLAWS and I occasionally like to dress up like an OLD LADY, that doesn't mean… / … I'm a BAD GUY." To prove this very fact, Mr. Wolf enlists three equally slandered friends into the Good Guys Club: Mr. Snake (aka the Chicken Swallower), Mr. Piranha (aka the Butt Biter), and Mr. Shark (aka Jaws). After some convincing from Mr. Wolf, the foursome sets off determined to un-smirch their names (and reluctantly curbing their appetites). Although these predators find that not everyone is ready to be at the receiving end of their helpful efforts, they use all their Bad Guy know-how to manage a few hilarious good deeds. Blabey has hit the proverbial nail on the head, kissed it full on the mouth, and handed it a stick of Acme dynamite. With illustrations that startle in their manic comedy and deadpan direct address and with a narrative that follows four endearingly sardonic characters trying to push past (sometimes successfully) their fear-causing natures, this book instantly joins the classic ranks of Captain Underpants and The Stinky Cheese Man.
We challenge anyone to read this and keep a straight face. (Fiction. 7-11)Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-545-91240-2
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
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