Fans of the series will enjoy this amusing fourth book, but newcomers may have a hard time warming up to the title character.
Megabat goes overboard at Daniel’s birthday, causing a bit of trouble.
Daniel’s birthday is coming up, and he’s throwing a party. All of his friends are excited and ask Daniel what he wants for presents. Megabat wants some too, but when Daniel explains that only the birthday person receives gifts, Megabat thinks it is unfair. As Daniel prepares for his All-You-Can-Eat Sugar Cereal Pig-Out Party, going shopping and making a piñata, Megabat’s excitement starts to grow. But Megabat notices Daniel and their friend Talia keeping secrets, causing Megabat to feel left out. On the day of the party, Megabat has to hide under Daniel’s hat, can’t play the party games, and is scolded a few times. When Megabat loses his temper, he breaks one of Daniel’s birthday presents and decides to run away. Megabat soon finds out being alone with nowhere to go is not easy or fun. This fourth installment of the series is another funny, quirky story about personal insecurities and friendship. Megabat here comes off as whiny rather than sympathetic, with behavior that may alienate readers. The familiar black-and-white drawings are adorable, however. Megabat’s idiosyncratic English can be difficult to read and understand at times. Daniel is of Japanese heritage; Talia presents White.
Fans of the series will enjoy this amusing fourth book, but newcomers may have a hard time warming up to the title character. (bat facts) (Fantasy. 7-10)Pub Date: March 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7352-6604-9
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Tundra Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 24, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2021
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
A nice and timely depiction of an immigrant child experience.
Speaking up is hard when you’re shy, and it can be even harder if you’ve got two languages in your head.
Third-grader Estrella “Stella” Díaz, is a shy, Mexican-American girl who draws pictures and loves fish, and she lives in Chicago with her mother and older brother, Nick. Jenny, Stella’s best friend, isn’t in her class this year, and Stella feels lonely—especially when she sees that Vietnamese-American Jenny is making new friends. When a new student, Stanley Mason, arrives in her class, Stella introduces herself in Spanish to the white former Texan without realizing it and becomes embarrassed. Surely Stanley won’t want to befriend her after that—but he seems to anyway. Stella often confuses the pronunciation between English and Spanish sounds and takes speech classes. As an immigrant with a green card—a “legal alien,” according to her teacher—Stella feels that she doesn’t fully belong to either American culture or Mexican culture, and this is nicely reflected in her not being fully comfortable in either language, an experience familiar to many immigrant and first-generation children. This early-middle-grade book features italicized Spanish words and phrases with direct translations right after. There is a small subplot about bullying from Stella’s classmate, and readers will cheer as they see how, with the help of her friends and family, Stella overcomes her shyness and gives a presentation on Jacques Cousteau. Dominguez’s friendly black-and-white drawings grace most pages.
A nice and timely depiction of an immigrant child experience. (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: Jan. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-62672-858-5
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 12, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2017
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