A beautifully rendered journey that offers insight into an often-overlooked chapter of history.
In a story inspired by the author’s family, a young child finds inner strength while fleeing after the sudden outbreak of war.
Hours after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, the Japanese army attacked British-ruled Hong Kong; following two weeks of fighting, the governor of Hong Kong surrendered to Japan. Many members of Cheng’s family decided to leave, led by his grandfather and joined by the laborers his grandfather employed, including one named Ah Meng. Cheng’s story focuses on his own uncle Shu Lok, who was just a boy at the time. “Be powerful like a dragon,” Shu Lok’s father tells him as he and several other children are placed into baskets and carried to safety. Shu Lok will need all his bravery; his parents have chosen to remain behind. Elegant in its simplicity, Cheng’s narrative details the experience through the eyes of a vulnerable youngster—the hunger pangs that rack Shu Lok’s belly, the bitterly freezing winds. But Ah Meng is there every step of the way, singing to soothe the frightened boy and covering the child with his own shirt on snowy nights. Tam’s arresting, fine-lined illustrations evoke traditional Chinese paintings; she slowly introduces rich pops of color into her muted landscapes as Shu Lok remembers his father’s words. When at last he sees the dragons, the symbolic manifestations of courage lift him from despair—and, as this tale comes to a satisfying close, empower him to buoy others.
A beautifully rendered journey that offers insight into an often-overlooked chapter of history. (Picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: April 15, 2025
ISBN: 9781250829399
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: yesterday
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2025
A surprisingly nuanced lesson set in confidence-building, easy-to-decode text.
A unicorn learns a friendship lesson in this chapter-book series opener.
Unicorn Bo has friends but longs for a “bestie.” Luckily, a new unicorn pops into existence (literally: Unicorns appear on especially starry nights) and joins Bo at the Sparklegrove School for Unicorns, where they study things like unicorn magic. Each unicorn has a special power; Bo’s is granting wishes. Not knowing what his own might be distresses new unicorn Sunny. When the week’s assignment is to earn a patch by using their unicorn powers to help someone, Bo hopes Sunny will wish to know Bo's power (enabling both unicorns to complete the task, and besides, Bo enjoys Sunny’s company and wants to help him). But when the words come out wrong, Sunny thinks Bo was feigning friendship to get to grant a wish and earn a patch, setting up a fairly sophisticated conflict. Bo makes things up to Sunny, and then—with the unicorns friends again and no longer trying to force their powers—arising circumstances enable them to earn their patches. The cheerful illustrations feature a sherbet palette, using patterns for texture; on busy pages with background colors similar to the characters’ color schemes, this combines with the absence of outlines to make discerning some individual characters a challenge. The format, familiar to readers of Elliott’s Owl Diaries series, uses large print and speech bubbles to keep pages to a manageable amount of text.
A surprisingly nuanced lesson set in confidence-building, easy-to-decode text. (Fantasy. 5-8)Pub Date: Dec. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-32332-0
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2019
An immersive, charming read and convincing proof again that even small bodies can house stout hearts.
Can knightly deeds bring together a feathered odd couple who are on opposite daily schedules?
Having won over a dragon (and millions of fans) in the Caldecott Honor–winning Knight Owl (2022), the fierce yet impossibly cute nocturnal, armor-clad owlet faces a new challenge—sleep deprivation—in the wake of taking on Early Bird, a trainee who rises with the sun and chatters interminably: “I made pancakes! Do you like pancakes? I love pancakes! Where’s the syrup?” It’s enough to test the patience of even the knightliest of owls, and eventually Knight Owl explodes in anger. But although Early Bird is even smaller than her mentor, she turns out to be just as determined to achieve knighthood. After he tells her to leave, she acquits herself so nobly in a climactic encounter with a pack of wolves that she earns a place at the castle. Denise proves a dab hand at depicting genuinely slinky, scary wolves as well as slipping cheerfully anachronistic newspapers and other sight gags into his realistically wrought medieval settings to underscore the tale’s tongue-in-cheek tone. Better yet, a final view of the doughty duo sitting down together to a lavish pancake breakfast/dinner at dusk ends the episode in a sweet rush of syrup and bonhomie.
An immersive, charming read and convincing proof again that even small bodies can house stout hearts. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9780316564526
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
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