A superbly designed book that validates anger and its extreme sibling, rage.
From Germany, a story about feeling the emotions of anger and rage.
While there is no gender given for the narrator, the illustrations show a pale-skinned child in a dress, and readers may assume that, since females are often discouraged from showing anger, this book is particularly directed at girls. Paired with evocative, somewhat abstract illustrations that evoke the feelings the narrative exhorts, the child describes being “blinded by fury / …furiously mad.” A little later, “howling / roaring / whistling / … / gushing / pouring / twisting,” the child declares, “Rage unleashes a power I cannot ignore.” The words themselves tumble down the page in large type, and their placement and size, as well as their meaning, are effective at generating the spirit of rage and anger. The transition from the child’s red anger and rage to letting it go is, fabulously, depicted first as crashing waves and then as a panther the child rides astride. The ever smaller type used reiterates this new calm alongside puffy clouds in a blue sky. But while acknowledging that women’s anger is important and vital, this book’s treatment may go over the top. Rage is not the same as anger, since it lacks anger’s control, and a story that validates rage may be validating destructive and self-destructive behavior. That said, the illustrations and the narrative do an outstanding job of delivering their message. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A superbly designed book that validates anger and its extreme sibling, rage. (Picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2021
ISBN: 978-3-7913-7494-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Prestel
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 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
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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