An understated yet unambiguous call to action for everyone to do their part to protect the oceans.
A curious, young Black girl embraces her role as a protector of aquatic life.
McKenzie, or Mermaid Kenzie as she prefers to be called, is a bright, adventurous child with a big Afro who enjoys everything the seashore and ocean have to offer. When not at the beach, she uses her vivid imagination to re-create the serenity of the sea in her messy bedroom that she refuses to clean because “mermaids don’t clean up.” Day and night, the girl and her mother spend time at the shore building sand castles, skipping stones, collecting seashells, exploring sea caves, going on boat rides, and more. Mermaid Kenzie loves interacting with the organisms that call the beach and ocean home, including a seal she has named Cocoa. The more she explores, the more she realizes just how much pollution has affected the marine ecosystem. Her mother tells her of a time when the ocean was “an underwater zoo,” but now there are “more plastic bags than fish.” Dubbing herself Protector of the Deeps, Mermaid Kenzie breaks her own injunction against cleaning and begins picking up trash and encouraging her friends to do the same. This inspiring picture book shows the positive impact even the youngest of us can make. The text, written in African American Vernacular English, teems with evocative, often lyrical descriptions of the marine setting. The cartoony, digital illustrations use a palette dominated by the bright greens and deep blues of ocean water.
An understated yet unambiguous call to action for everyone to do their part to protect the oceans. (author’s note, bibliography) (Picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-63592-310-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: Dec. 2, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Another quirky take on the series theme that it’s cool to be kind.
The cool beans again step up to do a timorous fellow legume a fava…this time at the pool.
Will a rash decision to tackle the multistory super-slide lead to another embarrassing watery fail for our shy protagonist? Nope, for up the stairs right behind comes a trio of cool beans, each a different type and color, all clad in nothing but dark shades. They make an offer: “It’s not as scary if you go with friends!” As the knobby nerd explains once the thrilling ride down is done, “They all realized that I just needed some encouragement and support.” Just to make sure that both cool and uncool readers get the message, the narrator lets us know that “there are plenty of kind folks who have my back. They’re always there when I need them.” The beany bonhomie doesn’t end at the bottom of the slide, with all gliding down to the shallow end of the pool (“3 INCHES. NO DIVING”) for a splashy finale. This latest early reader starring characters from John and Oswald’s immensely popular Food Group series will be a hit with fans. Fun accessories, such as a bean who rocks pink cat-eye frames, add some pizzazz to the chromatically and somatotypically varied cast.
Another quirky take on the series theme that it’s cool to be kind. (Easy reader. 5-7)Pub Date: March 26, 2024
ISBN: 9780063329560
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Adventure, humor, and smart, likable characters make for a winning chapter book.
Ada Twist’s incessant stream of questions leads to answers that help solve a neighborhood crisis.
Ada conducts experiments at home to answer questions such as, why does Mom’s coffee smell stronger than Dad’s coffee? Each answer leads to another question, another hypothesis, and another experiment, which is how she goes from collecting data on backyard birds for a citizen-science project to helping Rosie Revere figure out how to get her uncle Ned down from the sky, where his helium-filled “perilous pants” are keeping him afloat. The Questioneers—Rosie the engineer, Iggy Peck the architect, and Ada the scientist—work together, asking questions like scientists. Armed with knowledge (of molecules and air pressure, force and temperature) but more importantly, with curiosity, Ada works out a solution. Ada is a recognizable, three-dimensional girl in this delightfully silly chapter book: tirelessly curious and determined yet easily excited and still learning to express herself. If science concepts aren’t completely clear in this romp, relationships and emotions certainly are. In playful full- and half-page illustrations that break up the text, Ada is black with Afro-textured hair; Rosie and Iggy are white. A closing section on citizen science may inspire readers to get involved in science too; on the other hand, the “Ode to a Gas!” may just puzzle them. Other backmatter topics include the importance of bird study and the threat palm-oil use poses to rainforests.
Adventure, humor, and smart, likable characters make for a winning chapter book. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: April 16, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3422-9
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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