A lovely reminder that listening is more than hearing.
A child reflects on auditory experiences in this immersive ode to mindful listening.
As the book opens on a bustling park, a blond, light-skinned child informs us that “the world is busy.” We see someone speaking on a cell phone, an airplane flying, a musician playing the violin, a baby babbling—all familiar, noisy experiences. But when the child’s eyes are closed, these sounds become waves, represented as colorful lines and squiggles. The young narrator explains that when we actively listen, we “begin to understand.” Sounds such as “the noisiness of nature” become differentiated, and the little one picks up on “the humming of a bee sipping from a flower” and “the whispers of a breeze talking to the tree” and realizes that “everything is alive.” Deeper listening—not just to words, but to “the sadness, joy, wonder, or excitement” in conversation—promotes empathy and caring; Verde offers a welcome reminder that when we listen to our own bodies, we’re better equipped to care for ourselves. Vibrant, stimulating illustrations depict a diverse world, featuring people of varied skin tones (some with visible disabilities) and a home with two male-presenting parents. Simple questions such as “What do you notice when you listen?” provide opportunity for conversation and reinforce understanding. Verde includes an easy but effective mindfulness exercise in her author’s note.
A lovely reminder that listening is more than hearing. (Picture book. 3-9)Pub Date: April 9, 2024
ISBN: 9781419761652
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2024
As ephemeral as a valentine.
Daywalt and Jeffers’ wandering crayons explore love.
Each double-page spread offers readers a vision of one of the anthropomorphic crayons on the left along with the statement “Love is [color].” The word love is represented by a small heart in the appropriate color. Opposite, childlike crayon drawings explain how that color represents love. So, readers learn, “love is green. / Because love is helpful.” The accompanying crayon drawing depicts two alligators, one holding a recycling bin and the other tossing a plastic cup into it, offering readers two ways of understanding green. Some statements are thought-provoking: “Love is white. / Because sometimes love is hard to see,” reaches beyond the immediate image of a cat’s yellow eyes, pink nose, and black mouth and whiskers, its white face and body indistinguishable from the paper it’s drawn on, to prompt real questions. “Love is brown. / Because sometimes love stinks,” on the other hand, depicted by a brown bear standing next to a brown, squiggly turd, may provoke giggles but is fundamentally a cheap laugh. Some of the color assignments have a distinctly arbitrary feel: Why is purple associated with the imagination and pink with silliness? Fans of The Day the Crayons Quit (2013) hoping for more clever, metaliterary fun will be disappointed by this rather syrupy read.
As ephemeral as a valentine. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Dec. 24, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5247-9268-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
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