A noble lesson for all.
The Abrahams mistake a group of aliens who crash-land unexpectedly behind their home for the Greenbaums, their new neighbors.
Though the extraterrestrials’ odd behavior and incomprehensible language are a bit surprising, Dina invites them in with a welcoming “Shalom” and offers them a seat, water, and cookies. When Dina’s mother, realizing that these aren’t the Greenbaums, whispers that the guests “are a little strange,” Dina reminds her of the traditional Jewish teaching: “It’s a mitzvah to give guests food and drink and a place to rest.” But what these aliens really need is help in repairing their spaceship, which Dina provides with tools and tape. All fixed, the aliens take off again for Alpha Centauri amid gestures of thanks and friendship, leaving the Abrahams with a hologram of their time together. But there’s another funny twist in store when the Greenbaums finally do arrive. All in all, it’s a quirky yet sweet tale, brought to life by soft, whimsical drawings of the family and their mushroomlike guests and imbued with a sound message. The author’s note further explains the important “Jewish view of hospitality” and that of inviting others who may be “poor, lonely, converts, or new to the community.” Dina and her father are tan-skinned, while her mother is lighter-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A noble lesson for all. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2023
ISBN: 9798986396538
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kalaniot Books
Review Posted Online: June 8, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre.
Ice princess Lina must navigate family and school in this early chapter read.
The family picnic is today. This is not a typical gathering, since Lina’s maternal relatives are a royal family of Windtamers who have power over the weather and live in castles floating on clouds. Lina herself is mixed race, with black hair and a tan complexion like her Asian-presenting mother’s; her Groundling father appears to be a white human. While making a grand entrance at the castle of her grandfather, the North Wind, she fails to successfully ride a gust of wind and crashes in front of her entire family. This prompts her stern grandfather to ask that Lina move in with him so he can teach her to control her powers. Desperate to avoid this, Lina and her friend Claudia, who is black, get Lina accepted at the Hilltop Science and Arts Academy. Lina’s parents allow her to go as long as she does lessons with grandpa on Saturdays. However, fitting in at a Groundling school is rough, especially when your powers start freak winter storms! With the story unfurling in diary format, bright-pink–highlighted grayscale illustrations help move the plot along. There are slight gaps in the storytelling and the pacing is occasionally uneven, but Lina is full of spunk and promotes self-acceptance.
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre. (Fantasy. 5-8)Pub Date: June 25, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-35393-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
A close encounter of the best kind.
Left behind when the space bus departs, a child discovers that the moon isn’t as lifeless as it looks.
While the rest of the space-suited class follows the teacher like ducklings, one laggard carrying crayons and a sketchbook sits down to draw our home planet floating overhead, falls asleep, and wakes to see the bus zooming off. The bright yellow bus, the gaggle of playful field-trippers, and even the dull gray boulders strewn over the equally dull gray lunar surface have a rounded solidity suggestive of Plasticine models in Hare’s wordless but cinematic scenes…as do the rubbery, one-eyed, dull gray creatures (think: those stress-busting dolls with ears that pop out when squeezed) that emerge from the regolith. The mutual shock lasts but a moment before the lunarians eagerly grab the proffered crayons to brighten the bland gray setting with silly designs. The creatures dive into the dust when the bus swoops back down but pop up to exchange goodbye waves with the errant child, who turns out to be an olive-skinned kid with a mop of brown hair last seen drawing one of their new friends with the one crayon—gray, of course—left in the box. Body language is expressive enough in this debut outing to make a verbal narrative superfluous.
A close encounter of the best kind. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: May 14, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4253-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Margaret Ferguson/Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Feb. 5, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019
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