A fun-filled, culturally rich tale that will delight readers young and older.
Nobody catches chickens better than Lami, and everyone in the village knows it.
Lami hears, “Catch ’am, Lami” from Aunty Aisha, Daddy Danlami, Nana Nadia, and a host of other friends and relatives who all acknowledge this brown-skinned girl’s talent. Many visual and textual details announce this book’s likely Nigerian setting: the school lessons that take place outside under a tree; the beautiful African-patterned fabrics the characters wear; the braided hairstyles of the little girls; a large gathering under a baobab tree, and the Hausa directive for Lami to “Sannu! Sannu!” (“Slow down!”). Ignoring the warnings that relatives fling at her as she runs past, Lami climbs up the baobab in hot pursuit of a black-and-white chicken and falls from a great height. The sprained ankle she gets from the fall slows her legs, but after receiving some sage advice from Nana Nadia, she starts to use her mind more than her legs and finds a new way to do what she loves. Brooksbank’s vibrant illustrations have the look of quickly stroked pastels and teem with motion and activity. Chickens in many colors populate the pages, and the interactions among both adults and children emphasize the strong sense of community in this village. Brooksbank also makes excellent use of white space to focus in on Lami’s love of chickens and her delight in pursuing them.
A fun-filled, culturally rich tale that will delight readers young and older. (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: July 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5362-1268-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
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
Yes, the Pigeon has to go to school, and so do readers, and this book will surely ease the way.
All the typical worries and excuses kids have about school are filtered through Willems’ hysterical, bus-loving Pigeon.
Told mostly in speech balloons, the bird’s monologue will have kids (and their caregivers) in stitches at Pigeon’s excuses. From already knowing everything (except whatever question readers choose to provide in response to “Go ahead—ask me a question. / Any question!”) to fearing learning too much (“My head might pop off”), Pigeon’s imagination has run wild. Readers familiar with Pigeon will recognize the muted, matte backgrounds that show off the bird’s shenanigans so well. As in previous outings, Willems varies the size of the pigeon on the page to help communicate emotion, the bird teeny small on the double-page spread that illustrates the confession that “I’m… / scared.” And Pigeon’s eight-box rant about all the perils of school (“The unknown stresses me out, dude”) is marvelously followed by the realization (complete with lightbulb thought bubble) that school is the place for students to practice, with experts, all those skills they don’t yet have. But it is the ending that is so Willems, so Pigeon, and so perfect. Pigeon’s last question is “Well, HOW am I supposed to get there, anyway!?!” Readers will readily guess both the answer and Pigeon’s reaction.
Yes, the Pigeon has to go to school, and so do readers, and this book will surely ease the way. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: July 2, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-368-04645-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
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