A thoughtful, insightful character study that gently urges young readers to choose joy.
Hortensia is content with her perfectly ordered life.
Daisies grow in a straight line; paintings hang at the correct height. Her alarm clock rings at exactly the same time each morning, and she eats the same carefully measured breakfast. The dog, aptly named Starchy, is walked for the same duration and distance daily. Same bus, same seat, same number of birds fed at the park, same radio program at the same time, and bedtime at exactly the right moment. She has no desire for anything to change. But one morning her alarm clock rings 14 minutes late and sets off a series of considerably disturbing changes. She eats a quick breakfast and finds it delicious. Starchy makes a friend on his shorter walk. She misses her bus, rents a bike, and enjoys the ride. She finds herself noticing and loving the beauty around her and opening her heart to change and joy. Losing nothing in translation, the text in this Spanish import maintains a stiffness of language that perfectly reflects Hortensia’s rigidity, with later syntax becoming more expansive as she opens up to new experiences. Cerro illustrates her world with intense color, and his portraits of her undergo subtle changes. The glasses are still perched at the edge of her nose, but she moves a bit more easily; her expressions soften, and her lips curve in the slightest of smiles as she now sees a world that features infinite possibilities.
A thoughtful, insightful character study that gently urges young readers to choose joy. (Picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: March 15, 2021
ISBN: 978-84-18302-13-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Cuento de Luz
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 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
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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