A welcome modern tale of immigration featuring a Thai protagonist.
A Thai boy finds comfort in a Buddhist tale while adjusting to life in Chicago.
Young “Krit love[s] his home” in Chiang Mai, Thailand. He and his dog, Mu, run alongside temple stairs and duck “under dragon fruit carts in the market, past papaya and longans and red rambutans.” While celebrating the festival of lights, Krit releases his banana-leaf boat lighted with a candle on the river with his single wish: “Let nothing change.” Unfortunately, that night, his mother informs him the family is moving to Chicago to help with family business. The digitally painted grayscale city shrouded in snow proves a jarring change from the bright sunbathed colors of Thailand. Krit attempts to re-create familiar scenes, walking alongside the icy river and visiting markets only to be scolded by guards and staff for bringing his dog. Cold and dispirited, that night Krit requests a story from his mother, who tells a cryptic tale of Buddha's finding a place to build his temple. Straightforward narration reveals the next day is a more fruitful one when Krit meets Dahlia, a white girl playing with a toy boat in the river. With Dahlia’s friendship, Krit looks at Chicago with new eyes, realizing the moral of his mother’s story and the true meaning of home. Woo builds on simple shapes and rounded edges to provide bright characters with charming backdrops.
A welcome modern tale of immigration featuring a Thai protagonist. (Picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: March 24, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-61180-775-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bala Kids/Shambhala
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
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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