A story about making life whole—that’s also really funny.
The fifth installment in the Swedish early chapter series featuring Dani, a young white girl.
Dani is starting second grade, and although she still misses her “best friend in the whole world,” Ella (who has moved), she is overjoyed that her father, Gianni, has returned home after a summer of hospitalization following an accident. She is also looking forward to the class trip to Skansen Zoo. But at Skansen, two of Dani’s classmates tell her she looks like the monkeys, and Dani runs off. Lo and behold, she runs into Ella, whose unruly class is also visiting. The two sneak off to play, and Dani realizes that Ella is unhappy in her new class, which makes Dani unhappy. Lagercrantz expertly and respectfully weaves themes of moving on, resilience, and friendship; Eriksson’s black-and-white illustrations give heart and warmth. (In the illustrations, everyone’s skin is the white of the paper, but racial differences are hinted at in facial features and hair.) The beauty and magic of these books is that, while they are full of sweetness, they embrace reality. Dani is not ready to let Sadie, the nurse her father fell in love with over the summer, into her life and acts out. And Dani’s maternal grandmother (Dani’s mother died five years earlier) sides with Dani, a sophisticated insertion that is in line with Dani’s (and presumably, readers’) growing maturity.
A story about making life whole—that’s also really funny. (Fiction. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-7765-7129-1
Page Count: 152
Publisher: Gecko Press
Review Posted Online: June 13, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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
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