A lively picture book that offers a child-friendly perspective on difference and acceptance.
An unusual customer interrupts a youngster’s lunch with her grandfather in a humorous debut children’s book that addresses the issue of empathy.
Aryela, a little white girl with blonde hair, is having fun with her “Gramps” when a sporty kangaroo named Kip, wearing an “Aussie” T-shirt, baseball cap, and sunglasses, bounces into the shopping mall food court where they’re eating lunch. Everyone stares as Kip “hippity hops” to the salad counter to place an order. Aryela, pictured wearing an eye patch (to correct a vision problem), is empathetic: “I know what it’s like to be stared at,” she says to herself. When the salad maker refuses to serve Kip (“We only serve people here…and you’re not people”), Aryela notes the kangaroo’s hurt feelings and thinks of how she’s felt like an outsider. She asks Gramps to invite Kip to their table, and the senior goes to the counter to make sure that the kangaroo gets a salad. Aryela and Kip soon find that they have much in common: They know what it’s like to be picked on, for example, and they both love jokes. De Francis offers expressive, zippy, cartoon-style debut illustrations as Bloomberg delivers several messages about diversity, bullying, prejudice, and kindness. He does so with gentle humor and a light but sure touch, reinforcing the book’s messages with the arrival of Kip’s mother. Confronted by a security guard, she humorously but firmly educates him about her right to remain there with her son. (Mom’s pouch-as-shopping-bag also comes into play, and De Francis’ depiction of the guard’s expression is a hoot.) Bloomberg’s slapstick method for discouraging bullies is the book’s only misstep; although it’s comical when Kip sticks up for Aryela by dumping salad over the heads of the three “Meanie Brothers,” it’s likely that retaliatory escalation would be a bully’s real-life response.
A lively picture book that offers a child-friendly perspective on difference and acceptance.Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-976425-46-2
Page Count: 88
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: June 17, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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