This tall tale isn’t quite tall enough.
This holiday story may secretly be a cookbook.
Most of the book doubles as a recipe for challah bread for the Jewish New Year: mix together flour, eggs, and other ingredients. Knead the dough and punch it and let it rise. The quantities, however, are a little odd: “thousands of eggs, and a shovelful of salt.” This is a tall tale, and Big Sam (short for Samson), the title character, is a white Jewish giant. The problem is, for most of the length of the book, the story feels more like a recipe than a tall tale. It’s endearing to see Big Sam use the Grand Canyon as a mixing bowl and bake the bread inside Mount Saint Helens, but the first half of the book doesn’t have a whole lot of conflict—just baking. The drama really starts near the very end, when Sam must clean up the mess he’s made. A pair of eagles begins to scream at him: “You dropped a mountaintop on our forest. You knocked down our trees.” Starr’s paintings of Sam, as he plants new trees and wildflowers, are warm and inviting, and the environmental message is touching, if not subtle. Jewish readers may be grateful for a new, imaginative take on the holiday, but they might also wish it were a bit less repetitive.
This tall tale isn’t quite tall enough. (readers’ guide) (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-68115-525-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Apples & Honey Press
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2017
A tender book to help little ones make sense of the emotions around prayer.
Actor Metz and songwriter Collins join illustrator Fields in their second faith-related title for young children.
Instead of focusing on the language of prayer—what to say or how to say it—this book explores a topic central to the lives of the very young: their feelings around talking to God. Rhymes and near-rhymes in the AABB verses enumerate the simple challenges and triumphs experienced by a series of animals: “Sometimes I’m sad, not sure what to do. / There are days I feel teary, unhappy, or blue. / I fell off a log. I’m embarrassed and hurt. / My coat and paws are all covered in dirt.” An accompanying illustration depicts a sad wolf pup, a definite contrast to its siblings, who are delighting in their play. The highlight of the book is Fields’ animal characters. Whether happy, nervous, or sad, their expressive faces are easy to read, and their feelings will be familiar to young tots. The beaver’s frustration is palpable, and the tears in the scared raccoon’s eyes may just make readers’ own eyes well up. Some of the animals have a God stand-in to help them with their feelings—a friend or family member—but the final spread shows all the individual animals coming together in a couple of group hugs that express where children can find support (and sweetly defy predator–prey relationships).
A tender book to help little ones make sense of the emotions around prayer. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780593691366
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Flamingo Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
With a universal message of love and community, this book offers a beautiful representation of a too-often-overlooked...
From a debut author-and-illustrator team comes a glimpse into a young American Muslim girl’s family and community as she walks around in “Mommy’s khimar,” or headscarf.
The star of this sunny picture book is a young girl who finds joy in wearing her mother’s khimar, imagining it transforms her into a queen, a star, a mama bird, a superhero. At the core of the story is the love between the girl and her mother. The family appears to be African-American, with brown skin and textured hair. The girl’s braids and twists “form a bumpy crown” under the khimar, which smells of coconut oil and cocoa butter. Adults in her life delight in her appearance in the bright yellow khimar, including her Arabic teacher at the mosque, who calls it a “hijab,” and her grandmother, who visits after Sunday service and calls out “Sweet Jesus!” as she scoops her granddaughter into her arms. Her grandmother is, apparently, a Christian, but “We are a family and we love each other just the same.” The illustrations feature soft pastel colors with dynamic lines and gently patterned backgrounds that complement the story’s joyful tone. The words are often lyrical, and the story artfully includes many cultural details that will delight readers who share the cheerful protagonist’s culture and enlighten readers who don’t.
With a universal message of love and community, this book offers a beautiful representation of a too-often-overlooked cultural group . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 3, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5344-0059-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Salaam Reads/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018
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