If every girl is a little princess, this book shows that to keep that crown requires only finding things to love in life and...
A not-so-subtle deconstruction of the princess myth.
A one-page introduction invites readers to look beyond crowns to spot princesses in their lives (“Maybe she’s a neighbor, maybe a schoolmate, maybe the cashier at your supermarket…”). What follows is a set of 17 two-page spreads, each featuring a different princess’s stats (name, age, profession, and favorite activities) along with a free-form description of her life. It begins with a physician and ends with an astronaut who is giving up her princess crown to explore deep space. In between, readers see enormous princess diversity, not just of race, but of age, ability, body type, interests, even marital status. There are children, a single mom, a same-sex couple, a hijabi architect with a stay-at-home male partner, an elderly photographer who’s popular on Instagram, and more. The book feels modern in its references and social cornerstones while retaining a classic, elegant style thanks to Wimmer’s gorgeous portraits of the princesses in their crowns, each facing a page of that princess in action. Brown and Wimmer use diversity not only to highlight important differences among people, but also to show how these unique traits and interests allow every princess to choose her own path. A Spanish edition releases simultaneously, with translation by Salvador Figueirido.
If every girl is a little princess, this book shows that to keep that crown requires only finding things to love in life and pursuing them. (Picture book. 4-10)Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-8-41712-338-3
Page Count: 44
Publisher: NubeOcho
Review Posted Online: July 29, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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 this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.
The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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