Rather than celebrating diversity, this well-intentioned object lesson underscores the importance of kindness.
Johnny is having trouble accepting a new classmate, Gabe, who is from Brazil and doesn’t speak English.
He dislikes that Gabe is a “crybaby” and makes fun of the fact that “he’s not like us. He can’t even order lunch.” However, the rest of the classmates gradually welcome Gabe to their lunch table and include him on their soccer team while Johnny feels jealous and excluded. One day Gabe teaches Johnny a particularly difficult soccer move, and Johnny realizes that learning another language can be as frustrating as learning a new skill. He befriends Gabe by sharing a carton of chocolate milk, Gabe’s favorite. By focusing her lens on Johnny, Dismondy misses an opportunity to show what it’s like to try fitting into a foreign environment with different cultural and linguistic expectations. Disappointingly, Johnny’s toxic masculinity is not meaningfully interrogated either. Practical modeling of ELL principles are largely absent from the text, though backmatter presents a note for adults. With the exception of “leite” (milk), the Portuguese vocabulary consists of words shared both in Spanish and Portuguese, which is likely to create confusion as to Gabe’s country of origin. Were it not for Farrell’s visual clues—a map charting Gabe’s journey to the U.S. Midwest and Gabe’s soccer jersey—readers might well assume Gabe is from a Spanish-speaking country.
Rather than celebrating diversity, this well-intentioned object lesson underscores the importance of kindness. (Picture book. 5-10)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-733-0359-6-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Cardinal Rule Press
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
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
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
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