This straightforward presentation of Mexican-American culture and dance as celebrated by children has understated appeal.
First-grader Lupita faces a tough decision in this bilingual story set in the American Southwest when she is suddenly left without a dancing partner for her school celebration of Children’s Day/el Día del Niño.
Mrs. López announces to her class that they will be performing “La Raspa,” a traditional Mexican dance that Lupita knows well. She enthusiastically practices every day after school with her partner, Ernesto, and loves wearing the traditional costume prepared by her mother. However, on the day of the big dance, Ernesto suffers an injury and cannot participate. Lupita must decide what to do: give up and not take part in the dance she has been eagerly anticipating or risk embarrassment by joining the other pairs of dancers onstage by herself. To the initial surprise and then delight of her teacher, her family and everyone in the crowd, Lupita does not let the moment escape her. Though the story offers little development of the characters or plot beyond Lupita’s dilemma, the positive portrayal of a young girl brave enough to take a risk is noteworthy. The realistic illustrations successfully depict the movement of the dancers and the expressions of emotion, helping to elevate the book overall.
This straightforward presentation of Mexican-American culture and dance as celebrated by children has understated appeal. (Bilingual picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Nov. 30, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-55885-772-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Piñata Books/Arte Público
Review Posted Online: Sept. 17, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
This story covers the few days preceding the much-anticipated Midnight Zombie Walk, when Stink and company will take to the...
An all-zombie-all-the-time zombiefest, featuring a bunch of grade-school kids, including protagonist Stink and his happy comrades.
This story covers the few days preceding the much-anticipated Midnight Zombie Walk, when Stink and company will take to the streets in the time-honored stiff-armed, stiff-legged fashion. McDonald signals her intent on page one: “Stink and Webster were playing Attack of the Knitting Needle Zombies when Fred Zombie’s eye fell off and rolled across the floor.” The farce is as broad as the Atlantic, with enough spookiness just below the surface to provide the all-important shivers. Accompanied by Reynolds’ drawings—dozens of scene-setting gems with good, creepy living dead—McDonald shapes chapters around zombie motifs: making zombie costumes, eating zombie fare at school, reading zombie books each other to reach the one-million-minutes-of-reading challenge. When the zombie walk happens, it delivers solid zombie awfulness. McDonald’s feel-good tone is deeply encouraging for readers to get up and do this for themselves because it looks like so much darned fun, while the sub-message—that reading grows “strong hearts and minds,” as well as teeth and bones—is enough of a vital interest to the story line to be taken at face value.Pub Date: March 13, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5692-8
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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