Affirming of gender nonconformity if somewhat fragmented
A purse-wearing boy inspires others to wear and do what they wish, too.
Charlie, a brown-skinned boy with curly dark hair, loves the red purse his grandmother gave him and decides to wear it to school. His father objects, saying that Charlie shouldn’t wear a purse to school since he’s a boy, adding that he likes wearing his Hawaiian shirts, but they’re not appropriate for the workplace. Charlie rejects his father’s gender-role–conformist rationale in a matter-of-fact manner and carries on. Once at school, he encounters similar resistance and justifications from a white girl in his class and an older white boy (who say they don’t indulge in face-painting and would prefer to make their own lunch, respectively, with the latter connection seeming rather dubious). A white crossing guard is the first who seems inspired by Charlie’s determination to do as he pleases—the purse reminds him of his sparkly shoes. As the week progresses, all those who questioned Charlie’s purse-wearing end up accepting his nonconformist streak and embracing their own uniqueness. Dad wears his Hawaiian shirt, the girl paints her face like a tiger, the crossing guard wears his sparkly shoes, and in a plot element that seems like a forced connection at best, the older boy takes over lunch preparation in the cafeteria. The art does little to expand upon the text and its tidy resolution, though its playful style provides visual appeal.
Affirming of gender nonconformity if somewhat fragmented . (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-55451-954-5
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Annick Press
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
While the blend of folklore, fantasy and realism is certainly far-fetched, Imani, with her winning personality, is a child...
Imani endures the insults heaped upon her by the other village children, but she never gives up her dreams.
The Masai girl is tiny compared to the other children, but she is full of imagination and perseverance. Luckily, she has a mother who believes in her and tells her stories that will fuel that imagination. Mama tells her about the moon goddess, Olapa, who wins over the sun god. She tells Imani about Anansi, the trickster spider who vanquishes a larger snake. (Troublingly, the fact that Anansi is a West African figure, not of the Masai, goes unaddressed in both text and author’s note.) Inspired, the tiny girl tries to find new ways to achieve her dream: to touch the moon. One day, after crashing to the ground yet again when her leafy wings fail, she is ready to forget her hopes. That night, she witnesses the adumu, the special warriors’ jumping dance. Imani wakes the next morning, determined to jump to the moon. After jumping all day, she reaches the moon, meets Olapa and receives a special present from the goddess, a small moon rock. Now she becomes the storyteller when she relates her adventure to Mama. The watercolor-and-graphite illustrations have been enhanced digitally, and the night scenes of storytelling and fantasy with their glowing stars and moons have a more powerful impact than the daytime scenes, with their blander colors.
While the blend of folklore, fantasy and realism is certainly far-fetched, Imani, with her winning personality, is a child to be admired. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-934133-57-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Mackinac Island Press
Review Posted Online: July 28, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2014
Wins for compassion and for the refusal to let physical limitations hold one back.
With such short arms, how can Tiny T. Rex give a sad friend a hug?
Fleck goes for cute in the simple, minimally detailed illustrations, drawing the diminutive theropod with a chubby turquoise body and little nubs for limbs under a massive, squared-off head. Impelled by the sight of stegosaurian buddy Pointy looking glum, little Tiny sets out to attempt the seemingly impossible, a comforting hug. Having made the rounds seeking advice—the dino’s pea-green dad recommends math; purple, New Age aunt offers cucumber juice (“That is disgusting”); red mom tells him that it’s OK not to be able to hug (“You are tiny, but your heart is big!”), and blue and yellow older sibs suggest practice—Tiny takes up the last as the most immediately useful notion. Unfortunately, the “tree” the little reptile tries to hug turns out to be a pterodactyl’s leg. “Now I am falling,” Tiny notes in the consistently self-referential narrative. “I should not have let go.” Fortunately, Tiny lands on Pointy’s head, and the proclamation that though Rexes’ hugs may be tiny, “I will do my very best because you are my very best friend” proves just the mood-lightening ticket. “Thank you, Tiny. That was the biggest hug ever.” Young audiences always find the “clueless grown-ups” trope a knee-slapper, the overall tone never turns preachy, and Tiny’s instinctive kindness definitely puts him at (gentle) odds with the dinky dino star of Bob Shea’s Dinosaur Vs. series.
Wins for compassion and for the refusal to let physical limitations hold one back. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: March 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4521-7033-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 11, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2018
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