Ecology, change, love, and loss are all part of this affecting picture book by the author of Maria’s Comet (1999). Mags and her little brother Cody spend summers with their Grandpa on his farm, although most of it has been sold off since Grandma died. The children notice right away that the bluebirds don’t come anymore, and Cody wonders if they only liked Grandma. But the children find out that bluebirds need places to nest and were attracted by what she grew in her garden, so they set out to put it all to rights: Mags plants and weeds, and Cody researches bluebirds in secret and makes his own special contribution. How hard Grandpa and the children miss Grandma suffuses the text, and when Grandpa comes around to help make sure the bluebirds will return, the moment is very full indeed. The gouache and oil paintings hold just the right tone of bright summer memory: the text pages are strewn with stray flowers and images that reflect the full-page picture they face. Small touches abound, like grandpa’s shirt reflecting the blue of the birds, or a decorated initial twined with a flower that begins with that letter. Grandma and grandpa are not wizened and gray but appear to be in their 50s, making grandma’s loss more poignant and Grandpa’s activity rational. An author’s note on bluebirds and their habitats concludes the book. (Picture book. 6-9)
Pub Date: April 30, 2001
ISBN: 0-688-17398-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2001
Will and his little brother Steve face third grade and kindergarten in this over-the-top chapter book in the venerable Step-Into-Reading series for new readers. Will knows that going to the same school as his brother is going to be a challenge, but he does not know how much of a challenge it will be. From the moment Will has to hold Steve’s hand and take him to kindergarten, everything that can go wrong does. Whether Steve is slamming all the lockers, making faces through the third-grade window or starting a food fight in the cafeteria, he’s embarrassing his older brother. Expressive and stylized color illustrations add to the exaggerated plot lines. A comfortable, predictable ending on the bench outside of the principal’s office will make new readers everywhere smile with recognition. No one will mistake this for a lesson book about back to school, but new readers will find many reasons to laugh out loud with Will and Steve. (Fiction. 6-9)
Pub Date: July 10, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-375-83904-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2007
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
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