A simple, straightforward overview of a first dentist visit for religious readers that’s hampered by slightly confusing...
A girl’s love of candy turns into a big problem in Lewis’ picture-book series installment.
Coco has just started her first day of kindergarten, but it doesn’t take long for her to get into trouble. She finds a bag of candy left behind in the cafeteria and takes it home; later, at her grandmother’s house, she steals more candy from a jar on the living room table. As weeks pass and Coco eats her contraband, her teeth start to ache, and her parents suspect that she has a cavity. “It looks like Dad and I need to take you to the dentist,” her mom explains. Coco is nervous: She must apologize for taking the candy and also confront her fear of going to the dentist. In this follow-up to Coco Braves the Dark (2023), Lewis has Coco call on her religious faith to see her through her trials. The story is quick, blunt, and to the point; it sticks to its lesson without any secondary plot details or characterization. Betzy and Lola’s illustrations are bright and colorful, depicting Coco, her family, and their dentist as people of color; other characters have a range of skin tones. Oddly, two illustrations are repeated on consecutive pages without a clear reason.
A simple, straightforward overview of a first dentist visit for religious readers that’s hampered by slightly confusing execution.Pub Date: April 14, 2023
ISBN: 9781667892337
Page Count: 27
Publisher: BookBaby
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Echoes of Runaway Bunny color this exchange between a bath-averse piglet and his patient mother. Using a strategy that would probably be a nonstarter in real life, the mother deflects her stubborn offspring’s string of bath-free occupational conceits with appeals to reason: “Pirates NEVER EVER take baths!” “Pirates don’t get seasick either. But you do.” “Yeesh. I’m an astronaut, okay?” “Well, it is hard to bathe in zero gravity. It’s hard to poop and pee in zero gravity too!” And so on, until Mom’s enticing promise of treasure in the deep sea persuades her little Treasure Hunter to take a dive. Chunky figures surrounded by lots of bright white space in Segal’s minimally detailed watercolors keep the visuals as simple as the plotline. The language isn’t quite as basic, though, and as it rendered entirely in dialogue—Mother Pig’s lines are italicized—adult readers will have to work hard at their vocal characterizations for it to make any sense. Moreover, younger audiences (any audiences, come to that) may wonder what the piggy’s watery closing “EUREKA!!!” is all about too. Not particularly persuasive, but this might coax a few young porkers to get their trotters into the tub. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25425-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
With a universal message of love and community, this book offers a beautiful representation of a too-often-overlooked...
From a debut author-and-illustrator team comes a glimpse into a young American Muslim girl’s family and community as she walks around in “Mommy’s khimar,” or headscarf.
The star of this sunny picture book is a young girl who finds joy in wearing her mother’s khimar, imagining it transforms her into a queen, a star, a mama bird, a superhero. At the core of the story is the love between the girl and her mother. The family appears to be African-American, with brown skin and textured hair. The girl’s braids and twists “form a bumpy crown” under the khimar, which smells of coconut oil and cocoa butter. Adults in her life delight in her appearance in the bright yellow khimar, including her Arabic teacher at the mosque, who calls it a “hijab,” and her grandmother, who visits after Sunday service and calls out “Sweet Jesus!” as she scoops her granddaughter into her arms. Her grandmother is, apparently, a Christian, but “We are a family and we love each other just the same.” The illustrations feature soft pastel colors with dynamic lines and gently patterned backgrounds that complement the story’s joyful tone. The words are often lyrical, and the story artfully includes many cultural details that will delight readers who share the cheerful protagonist’s culture and enlighten readers who don’t.
With a universal message of love and community, this book offers a beautiful representation of a too-often-overlooked cultural group . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 3, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5344-0059-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Salaam Reads/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018
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