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PETER'S POWER

Name: PETER'S POWER
Author: Shirley Johnston
ISBN: 978-1-03-916804-6

by Shirley Johnston ; illustrated by Chad Thompson ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 30, 2023

A middling morality story despite a strong message about the power of a single act of kindness.

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Elementary-schooler Peter starts a chain reaction of generosity by giving his lunch away in Johnston’s debut picture book.

Peter is the new kid at school, and he sticks out for a reason: His family is poor. His father is a shoemaker, and his mother is a breadmaker; together they make ends meet as best they can. One day Peter reveals during lunchtime that all he has to eat are two slices of bread, and the other kids tease him. Later he meets a student who has no lunch at all: “My name is Mark, and I am so hungry. My mom and dad have no work because there aren’t any jobs available.” Peter shares his bread with Mark, which inspires his mother to begin baking bread especially for Mark’s family. These actions spark a series of good deeds that ultimately benefit both Peter’s and Mark’s families. Johnston’s moral tale is simple and inspiring. There are some improbable aspects; it seems unlikely that Peter’s family could financially support Mark’s. Maddi’s Fridge by Lois Brandt plays on the same themes, but maintains focus on acts of kindness where Johnston does not. Thompson’s illustrations are full of bright colors with cartoon-like characters whose positioning interplays with the text, such as when the words “They were all so happy,” curve up the side of a tree.

A middling morality story despite a strong message about the power of a single act of kindness.

Pub Date: May 30, 2023

ISBN: 978-1-03-916804-6

Page Count: 30

Publisher: FriesenPress

Review Posted Online: Aug. 24, 2023

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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CARPENTER'S HELPER

by Sybil Rosen ; illustrated by Camille Garoche ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.

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A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.

Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: March 16, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random

Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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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)