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
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
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