A bedtime book for praying families that will guide children in giving thanks.
A cast of sweet forest creatures thanks God in prayer for the many blessings of their day.
The bedtime routine consisting of a bath, a favorite song, snuggles, and a cozy bed may be familiar to many young children. But these particular young animals (who look more like stuffed toys than realistic animals) don’t forget to also include their nighttime prayers. “Thank you, God, / for friends and fun. / Memory making, / rain or sun.” In the artwork, a bear, a fox, and a bird fix a broken wagon wheel, and then the bear gives the fox, an owl, and a skunk a ride. “Thank you, God, / for where we live. / Enough to share / and help and give.” In this double-page spread, animals in a clearing appear to be sharing some fruit at the center of their circle. Family, teachers, nature’s beauty, and God’s steadfastness, light—“Hope for those in need tonight”—and love are other things to be thankful for. The verses sometimes stumble with regard to rhyme and clear meaning thanks to complex syntax: “Thank you, God, for your peace. / Any worry yours to keep.” The coziness of the watercolor illustrations, done in soft colors and most featuring tender physical contact, will certainly put children in a soporific mood. A scratchy technique lends the furry animals texture.
A bedtime book for praying families that will guide children in giving thanks. (Picture book. 2-6)Pub Date: April 6, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-7282-3570-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, colorful start for a Christian spiritual journey.
A cheery child gives thanks to God.
“When I see a rainbow / High up in the sky / I say a little prayer of thanks, / And here’s the reason why: // Because God loves me!” This board book’s focus is the comforting notion that God loves all his children, and no matter what, he will always look out for them. The text follows an ABCB rhyme scheme, breaking after every stanza to repeat the phrase “Because God loves me!” The small, light-skinned child has spiky brown hair and wears a dress; both the child and a chubby accompanying dog are appealingly illustrated with a bright, simple color palette and scratchy lines that appear to have been made with colored pencil. God is the only name given for the deity, implying a primarily Christian audience. The book’s message is clear, and its construction is sturdy, suiting this well to parents who are beginning to have conversations with their little readers regarding their beliefs.
A sweet, colorful start for a Christian spiritual journey. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-58925-237-0
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: Nov. 13, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
A simplistic, outdated take on Diwali for young children.
It’s Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, and Binny can’t wait to tell her class about her favorite holiday.
On their way through their North American suburb to school, Binny’s mother wishes her luck and reminds her to tell her class about the oil lamps that are a central part of their family’s Diwali tradition. But when Binny’s teacher, Mr. Boomer, invites her to share, Binny freezes, overcome with shyness. Taking a deep breath, she remembers her mother’s advice. The thought of the world filled with light—symbolizing the triumph of good over evil—gives Binny the strength she needs to tell her family’s Diwali story. While the book is thorough in its description of traditions like wearing new clothes, eating sweets, lighting lamps, and decorating floors and sidewalks with colored powder, the prose is clunky and clumsy, and Binny’s conflict is resolved so quickly that the story arc feels limp and uninteresting. Other elements of the text are troubling as well. Calling Binny’s new clothes an “Indian outfit,” for example, erases the fact that the kurta she wears is typical of the entire South Asian subcontinent. The use of most fireworks, which the author treats as an essential part of the holiday, is now banned in India due to concerns about pollution and child labor. Most problematically of all, the author continually treats Diwali as a Hindu holiday celebrated by “everyone,” which is untrue in India or in diaspora and which dangerously equates Hindu and Indian identity. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads reviewed at 49% of actual size.)
A simplistic, outdated take on Diwali for young children. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-338-36448-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
