MALAIKA’S WINTER CARNIVAL

Name: MALAIKA’S WINTER CARNIVAL
Author: Nadia L. Hohn
ISBN: 978-1-55498-920-1

by Nadia L. Hohn ; illustrated by Irene Luxbacher ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 5, 2017

Hohn contrasts Caribbean and Canadian cultures tenderly, with deep understanding of both, and she and Luxbacher have created...

bookshelf

Malaika is delighted to see her mother again, but after a brief stay in their Caribbean island home, she’s taking Malaika to her new home in Canada, along with her new, white French-Canadian husband, Mr. Frédéric, and his daughter, Adèle.

Though her new family is pleasant and welcoming, Malaika’s annoyed with the cold, the layers of puffy clothes she has to wear, the new language she has to learn, and—the last straw—when the family goes to a carnival, there are no bright, beautiful costumes as at Carnival at home (the subject of Malaika’s Costume, 2016). Malaika kicks over Adèle’s snow castle out of frustration. The next day, Malaika and her grandmother have a video chat, which lifts her spirts and reminds her of friends and family, and she decides to give this new home a chance. She starts with an apology to Adèle, who embraces her new sister and teachers her to catch the newly falling snowflakes on her tongue. As in the previous book, Hohn uses Malaika’s lovely patois to tell the story, which teaches Caribbean and French terms as well as focusing on the primary story of coping with a new country and a blended family. Luxbacher’s mixed-media collages are wonderful, vibrant, and expressive, and both the cover and final pages tell the happy ending without a word.

Hohn contrasts Caribbean and Canadian cultures tenderly, with deep understanding of both, and she and Luxbacher have created a sweet, immersive and loving book that will benefit both young new arrivals to a country and those just meeting them. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-55498-920-1

Page Count: 36

Publisher: Groundwood

Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS

- BOOK REVIEW
THE ANTIRACIST KITCHEN
edited by Nadia L. Hohn ; illustrated by Roza Nozari

- BOOK REVIEW
MALAIKA, CARNIVAL QUEEN
by Nadia L. Hohn ; illustrated by Irene Luxbacher

- BOOK REVIEW
MALAIKA’S SURPRISE
by Nadia L. Hohn ; illustrated by Irene Luxbacher

bookshelf

CARPENTER'S HELPER

by Sybil Rosen ; illustrated by Camille Garoche ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.

bookshelf

A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.

Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: March 16, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random

Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

bookshelf

ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

bookshelf

Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)