A storytelling treat to be savored among family.
A Japanese American grandmother and child cook, pound, pat, and munch yummy mochi!
Endpapers hint at the treat that the child and Obaachan decide to make together, using a long-standing, matrilineal recipe. With Obaachan’s “strong, wrinkled hands” and the child’s “small, quick ones”—and their whole hearts—they prepare the rice (spilling only a few grains!). While it cooks, Obaachan tells the story of how she came to America, and the two play cards and sip green tea. Soon it’s time to put the rice in a mixer, “which pounds it into a sticky mound,” and pat rice balls into flat cakes. They fill some mochi with sweet red bean paste, coat others in soybean powder, fold strawberries into others, and then prepare boxes to share with friends and family. The child says that mochi is how this family shares love, traditions, and gratitude. Each step of this tasty story glows with joy and kindness, punctuated by rich sensory language. Digital collage illustrations, dominated by the same pastel pinks as the mochi, use mixed media (including cloth that Fujimoto-Johnson’s own grandmother embroidered) to immerse readers in a warm, cozy home environment. Obaachan and the child remember Ojiichan (Grandpa), who appears to be deceased, and his love of mochi. An author’s note describes the autobiographical aspects of the story and offers background on this Japanese treat and a recipe to make it at home.
A storytelling treat to be savored among family. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 19, 2024
ISBN: 9781665931540
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.
The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Handy advice for perpetually inquisitive children.
Interior decorator and TV personality Gaines invites readers to open their eyes and exercise their imaginations.
There’s a world to be explored out there—and only children can really take part. What does “looking for wonder” entail? Slowing down and looking up, around, and everywhere. At the outset, a group of eager, racially diverse young friends—including one who uses a wheelchair—are fully prepared for a grand adventure. They offer tips about how and where to look: Why, there’s a “grand parade” of marching ants! And, these kids add, perspective is key. A rainy day might signal gloom to some, but to those filled with wonder, showers bring “magic puddles for play”; a forest is “an enchanted world,” the ocean conceals “a spectacular city,” and the night sky boasts “extraordinary sights.” The takeaway: “Wonder is never in short supply.” It’s a robust, empowering message, as is the exhortation to “keep your mind open, and let curiosity guide the way.” Youngsters are also advised to share their discoveries. The upbeat narrative is delivered in clunky verse, but the colorful cartoonish illustrations brimming with activity and good cheer (including some adorable anthropomorphized animals in the backgrounds) make up for the textual lapses and should motivate readers to embark on their own “wonder explorations.”
Handy advice for perpetually inquisitive children. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9781400247417
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tommy Nelson
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
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