A reassuring story of friendship in the face of change.
The art of Chinese paper cutting and the art of friendship come together in this heartfelt migration story.
Bundled up and brightly dressed, best friends Dandan and Yueyue gleefully stroll hand in hand through a snowy neighborhood in China. But joy soon turns to sorrow—Dandan learns that she and her family will soon be moving to America on the day of the Lunar New Year. The girls spend their remaining time together celebrating New Year’s Eve. They munch on dumplings, spend time with their families, and make bright red paper cuttings to serve as ornaments. With a tight hug and a stack of red paper as a parting gift, Yueyue urges Dandan to carry on their paper cutting tradition with a new friend in her new homeland. In America, Dandan feels lonely and friendless. Everything is different, she can’t speak English, and some of her new classmates laugh at her Chinese qipao dress. With a smile from a White, freckle-faced girl named Christina, though, her voice and a new friendship bloom. With so much to learn about her new home and her new friend, can Dandan keep old traditions—like paper cutting—alive? Liu’s descriptive text deftly captures the ups, downs, and in-betweens of a child’s experience moving to a new country. Scurfield’s digitally collaged pencil-and-ink illustrations are mostly bright and colorful, but a brief shift to monochrome underscores the strangeness of a new place and the anxiety of learning a new language. Repeated motifs underline the fact that regardless of geographical location, some things remain the same.
A reassuring story of friendship in the face of change. (author’s note, about the author, about paper cutting, how to make a snowflake instructions) (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Dec. 14, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-77818-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Godwin Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.
In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.
Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780063387843
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Not enough tricks to make this a treat.
Another holiday title (How To Catch the Easter Bunny by Adam Wallace, illustrated by Elkerton, 2017) sticks to the popular series’ formula.
Rhyming four-line verses describe seven intrepid trick-or-treaters’ efforts to capture the witch haunting their Halloween. Rhyming roadblocks with toolbox is an acceptable stretch, but too often too many words or syllables in the lines throw off the cadence. Children familiar with earlier titles will recognize the traps set by the costume-clad kids—a pulley and box snare, a “Tunnel of Tricks.” Eventually they accept her invitation to “floss, bump, and boogie,” concluding “the dance party had hit the finale at last, / each dancing monster started to cheer! / There’s no doubt about it, we have to admit: / This witch threw the party of the year!” The kids are diverse, and their costumes are fanciful rather than scary—a unicorn, a dragon, a scarecrow, a red-haired child in a lab coat and bow tie, a wizard, and two space creatures. The monsters, goblins, ghosts, and jack-o'-lanterns, backgrounded by a turquoise and purple night sky, are sufficiently eerie. Still, there isn’t enough originality here to entice any but the most ardent fans of Halloween or the series. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Not enough tricks to make this a treat. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72821-035-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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