In a swelling field of books about gender, this one doesn’t stack up.
A diverse group of kids buck gender stereotypes in their work, play, and style.
Anna and Javier aspire to careers in carpentry and nursing, respectively. John, meanwhile, sits in a dark movie theater; when someone asks, “John, are you crying?” the child proudly declares, “Yes, this movie is so sad!” Through slice-of-life scenes of children’s birthday parties, neighborhood hangouts, and classrooms, this book tries to demonstrate the casual ways in which kids can be feminist. The vignettes highlight challenges to rather obvious gender stereotypes, such as Pete sporting long hair and pigtailed Rahne schooling Jake in chess. These examples are offered without explicitly naming the stereotypes, which may be useful in starting conversations with young readers. Though the text, translated from Spanish, is solid (but not groundbreaking), Gusti’s scribbly images are whimsical at best and offensive at worst—namely in scenes where Asian-coded characters are portrayed with slanted eyes. Moreover, while the authors urge readers not to feel constrained by gender roles (telling them that there’s no such thing as girl or boy interests), they don’t acknowledge possibilities outside the gender binary. The book concludes with a few platitudes about who feminist kids are: those who “believe in equality” and know “there’s no such thing as girls stuff or boys stuff. We can all do everything!” (This book was reviewed digitally.)
In a swelling field of books about gender, this one doesn’t stack up. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 25, 2022
ISBN: 978-84-18599-85-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: NubeOcho
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2022
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute.
Readers bid farewell to a beloved canine character.
Momo is—or was—an adorable and very photogenic border collie owned by author Knapp. The many readers who loved him in the previous half-dozen books are in for a shock with this one. “Momo had died” is the stark reality—and there are no photographs of him here. Instead, Momo has been replaced by a flat cartoonish pastiche with strange, staring round white eyes, inserted into some of Knapp’s photography (which remains appealing, insofar as it can be discerned under the mixed media). Previous books contained few or no words. Unfortunately, virtuosity behind a lens does not guarantee mastery of verse. The art here is accompanied by words that sometimes rhyme but never find a workable or predictable rhythm (“We’d fetch and we’d catch, / we’d run and we’d jump. Every day we found new / games to play”). It’s a pity, because the subject—a pet’s death—is an important one to address with children. Of course, Momo isn’t gone; he can still be found “everywhere” in memories. But alas, he can be found here only in the crude depictions of the darling dog so well known from the earlier books.
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781683693864
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Quirk Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet and endearing feathered migration.
A relationship between a Latina grandmother and her mixed-race granddaughter serves as the frame to depict the ruby-throated hummingbird migration pattern.
In Granny’s lap, a girl is encouraged to “keep still” as the intergenerational pair awaits the ruby-throated hummingbirds with bowls of water in their hands. But like the granddaughter, the tz’unun—“the word for hummingbird in several [Latin American] languages”—must soon fly north. Over the next several double-page spreads, readers follow the ruby-throated hummingbird’s migration pattern from Central America and Mexico through the United States all the way to Canada. Davies metaphorically reunites the granddaughter and grandmother when “a visitor from Granny’s garden” crosses paths with the girl in New York City. Ray provides delicately hashed lines in the illustrations that bring the hummingbirds’ erratic flight pattern to life as they travel north. The watercolor palette is injected with vibrancy by the addition of gold ink, mirroring the hummingbirds’ flashing feathers in the slants of light. The story is supplemented by notes on different pages with facts about the birds such as their nest size, diet, and flight schedule. In addition, a note about ruby-throated hummingbirds supplies readers with detailed information on how ornithologists study and keep track of these birds.
A sweet and endearing feathered migration. (bibliography, index) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: May 7, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5362-0538-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
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