A heartfelt tribute to the power of books and bookstores.
A child finds a second home in a small bookstore.
“We’re glad you’re here!” The young narrator feels welcome right away; everything—an adorable pup, the books all around, even the soft, comfy chair—seems to be extending an enthusiastic greeting. A friend shares the child’s belief that the store is full of magic. On each return visit, the bookseller welcomes the protagonist and asks what books the little one is seeking. Whether the child craves mysteries, adventure, or stories that “twinkle,” the perfect book is always right there. Brief, highly expressive text and fantastical illustrations adeptly capture the child’s love for the bookshop. Many scenes are bathed in a dreamy, nostalgia-hued mist. As children and adults peruse the books, their dreams take flight in the form of bright yellow birds, flowers, animals, and strange creatures that float against a purple backdrop. As time passes, the narrator becomes a writer, who hosts a book signing at the store; the bookseller, now gray-haired, carries a stack of books, and the protagonist’s friend has become a painter. Though the narrator realizes that bookstores are facing challenges (“People weren’t reading books anymore—they mostly just read screens,” a neighbor notes), the beloved shop is still here, filled with readers and their dreams. The narrator is light-skinned, while the friend and the bookseller are Black, and their community is diverse.
A heartfelt tribute to the power of books and bookstores. (author’s note) (Picture book. 4-9)Pub Date: March 11, 2025
ISBN: 9781536210699
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2025
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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