This delightful picture book shines a spotlight on a rural, underrepresented Indian Muslim community.
In the Indian village of Kaithoon, a mother weaves gorgeous saris at her loom.
The woman’s daughter notices that even though Ammi is a talented sari maker, she never wears the saris she creates, opting instead for worn-out pairs of salwar kameez. The daughter enlists her sister, Sadaf, to find a way to buy a new sari for Ammi. The girls break open their gullak to see how much money they have inside. When they find what they’ve saved in their money jar isn’t enough, they look for items they can sell to the scrap dealer in their village. Even after selling bottles, tin cans, and newspaper they find around the house, the sisters are still short of the funds they need. They decide to go to visit neighbor Amina Khala, who is also a sari weaver—although not as talented as Ammi—and who pays the girls to dye threads that she will use in her designs. Finally, they have enough to go to market and to buy Ammi one of her own exquisite saris. According to the author’s note, the protagonists are part of a Muslim community of weavers that migrated from the Indian state of Karnataka to settle in Rajasthan in the 17th and 18th centuries. The sweet and gentle story organically integrates details about the daily lives of these skilled and rarely represented craftspeople. The cartoonlike illustrations are full of color, texture, and detail.
This delightful picture book shines a spotlight on a rural, underrepresented Indian Muslim community. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Nov. 9, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5420-3507-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Amazon Crossing Kids
Review Posted Online: Aug. 10, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Nice enough but not worth repeat reads.
Emma deals with jitters before playing the guitar in the school talent show.
Pop musician Kevin Jonas and his wife, Danielle, put performance at the center of their picture-book debut. When Emma is intimidated by her very talented friends, the encouragement of her younger sister, Bella, and the support of her family help her to shine her own light. The story is straightforward and the moral familiar: Draw strength from your family and within to overcome your fears. Employing the performance-anxiety trope that’s been written many times over, the book plods along predictably—there’s nothing really new or surprising here. Dawson’s full-color digital illustrations center a White-presenting family along with Emma’s three friends of color: Jamila has tanned skin and wears a hijab; Wendy has dark brown skin and Afro puffs; and Luis has medium brown skin. Emma’s expressive eyes and face are the real draw of the artwork—from worry to embarrassment to joy, it’s clear what she’s feeling. A standout double-page spread depicts Emma’s talent show performance, with a rainbow swirl of music erupting from an amp and Emma rocking a glam outfit and electric guitar. Overall, the book reads pretty plainly, buoyed largely by the artwork. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Nice enough but not worth repeat reads. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: March 29, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-35207-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
A delightfully silly celebration of familial love.
A child in search of the best hugger takes a bedtime tour of the world’s most unusual embraces.
In the opening pages of this rhyming picture book, an unnamed narrator asks a curly-haired, tan-skinned child who they think gives the best hugs. At the narrator’s behest, the protagonist spends their bedtime routine receiving affection from a wacky cast of creatures, ranging from meerkats to porcupines to narwhals. These animals have a variety of body types, but even those with a lack of limbs still express their love; the seahorse, for example, gives the child a “smooch” right before bathtime, and a grinning cobra offers the child a “clinch,” wrapping itself around their leg. Although many of the animals prove to be more prickly than cozy—the narrator points out, for example, the sharpness of bird beaks and porcupine quills—even the snuggliest koalas and bears cannot compare to the best hug of all: a parent’s embrace right before bedtime. The use of second-person address combined with the protagonist’s beautifully illustrated facial expressions and the buoyant, clever lines of verse render this book a hilarious and whimsical ride sure to delight both children and the adults who read to them. The pictures and text work together to create a clear narrative arc for the protagonist, and though the ending is a bit predictable, it’s nevertheless a wonderful payoff. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A delightfully silly celebration of familial love. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 24, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-5476-1236-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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