An engaging ballet tale with a solid anti-bullying message.
A magical tree helps a young dancer deal with bullies in this 13th installment of a picture-book series.
Andi loves dancing, but school’s a different thing. Even with a squirrel friend to keep the White child company, Andi can’t help counting the minutes until school is over. On the way to school is a beautiful tree that Andi names Gloriana. When the kid hears a voice near Gloriana that seems to say “Dance for me,” Andi decides to give it a try. After the tree responds to Andi’s dances with movements of its own, the youngster is amazed. The dancing continues to go well, but the bullies at Andi’s school only get worse when they realize the child is friends with a tree. After suggesting Andi make the tree their valentine, the bullies wander off. But Gloriana hears them, and she’s determined to win over the children without fighting. As in previous books in this series from Once Upon a Dance, each page advances the story while featuring instructions from White ballerina Konora (her stage name) on how to imitate the movements in the tale as well as perform various techniques. Because Andi practices ballet, the moves here are frequently ballet techniques, listed in French, and are best suited for use in a classroom with older kids. Ruminska’s depictions of Andi and their diverse classmates have soft, painterly outlines, and the illustrations with the tree in full bloom are particularly lovely.
An engaging ballet tale with a solid anti-bullying message.Pub Date: Jan. 25, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-955555-34-0
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Once Upon A Dance
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode.
A long-running series reaches its closing chapters.
Having, as Kline notes in her warm valedictory acknowledgements, taken 30 years to get through second and third grade, Harry Spooger is overdue to move on—but not just into fourth grade, it turns out, as his family is moving to another town as soon as the school year ends. The news leaves his best friend, narrator “Dougo,” devastated…particularly as Harry doesn’t seem all that fussed about it. With series fans in mind, the author takes Harry through a sort of last-day-of-school farewell tour. From his desk he pulls a burned hot dog and other items that featured in past episodes, says goodbye to Song Lee and other classmates, and even (for the first time ever) leads Doug and readers into his house and memento-strewn room for further reminiscing. Of course, Harry isn’t as blasé about the move as he pretends, and eyes aren’t exactly dry when he departs. But hardly is he out of sight before Doug is meeting Mohammad, a new neighbor from Syria who (along with further diversifying a cast that began as mostly white but has become increasingly multiethnic over the years) will also be starting fourth grade at summer’s end, and planning a written account of his “horrible” buddy’s exploits. Finished illustrations not seen.
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Nov. 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-451-47963-1
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
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