In these free verse, mostly unpunctuated poems, Alarcón explores the world of both sleeping and waking dreams and his hope for a better world of tolerance and peace. Family members working together in their garden constitute a vision of cooperative society; people who exclude the dreams of others create a nightmare. In one poem, the young narrator imagines buffalo roaming free, whales singing opera and people living together peacefully. In another, he wants to be a happy onion who makes people sing instead of cry. Alarcón’s short lines are worked around Barragán’s richly colored, cut-and-paste style illustrations, which use silhouettes, small but exaggerated details and childishly thick figures to embody Alarcón’s utopian longings. Includes both English and Spanish versions of the poems. (Poetry. 7-11)
Pub Date: May 1, 2005
ISBN: 1-58430-233-X
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Lee & Low Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2005
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
Broad and subtle in turn—verse to stay with readers for years to come.
A tasty mix of visionary and nonsense verses, lavishly illustrated by a recent Caldecott Medalist.
Systematically gathered into seven loosely thematic groups, the poems, likewise tidy of rhyme and scansion, range from meditations on “Zero” and the many colors of the sky to silly wordplay (“What kind of pizza / do you like to eatsa?”) and a droll paean to pasta that rhymes spaghetti with yeti. The notion of flying away almost serves as a running theme; in various entries, a piñata, a child on “Jetpack Sneakers,” a breaching whale, and, for a moment, a boy waking to a sparrow’s song take off into the sky. Salati depicts a menagerie of creatures both real and imaginary that share space with a rich and racially diverse assortment of small figures who often resemble Maurice Sendak’s Nutshell Library outtakes for their large-headed, stubby-limbed looks and balletic poses. The entries are lighthearted overall; several read like nursery rhymes. Burgess displays a keen intuition for what will get kids laughing—and what will make them think. One poem, perhaps a reference to current politics, invites them to “leave the shouters with their schemes / while we continue with our dreams,” while another urges them to “live your dream / Reign supreme / King or queen / or something / delightfully / in between.”
Broad and subtle in turn—verse to stay with readers for years to come. (index) (Poetry. 7-11)Pub Date: March 18, 2025
ISBN: 9781774880289
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Tundra Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2025
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