Sympathetic and gently insightful.
A captive octopus helps a neurodivergent boy find companionship.
Leo feels like he’s “living on the wrong planet.” Sensory overload makes him retreat into a box to read—but this is a lonely pleasure. When he meets Maya, the octopus, at the aquarium, he sees her as a kindred spirit. At the library, he learns about octopuses, and when he returns to the aquarium, the keeper allows him to touch her. He realizes she shows emotion by changing color. “If only humans were as easy to understand.” During weekly visits he strengthens their friendship, building increasingly difficult puzzles for her to solve and helping to erect a “no flash” sign when too many picture-taking visitors stress her out. Eventually, through sharing his own knowledge about octopuses with another small boy, he makes a new, human friend. Writer Marinov, mother of an autistic child, expertly paces this gentle story, interspersing Leo’s own feelings with information about octopuses. The author of a book about Asperger’s syndrome adds a note in the backmatter. Nixon’s slightly stylized art uses a limited palette and an ever changing layout to extend readers’ understanding. When Maya reacts to too many flashing cameras, angry red pages help readers feel her stress. Leo and the keeper are depicted with light-tan skin tones; his new friend is much darker, with black, curly hair.
Sympathetic and gently insightful. (Picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: Sept. 21, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-68464-277-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kane Miller
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Another quirky take on the series theme that it’s cool to be kind.
The cool beans again step up to do a timorous fellow legume a fava…this time at the pool.
Will a rash decision to tackle the multistory super-slide lead to another embarrassing watery fail for our shy protagonist? Nope, for up the stairs right behind comes a trio of cool beans, each a different type and color, all clad in nothing but dark shades. They make an offer: “It’s not as scary if you go with friends!” As the knobby nerd explains once the thrilling ride down is done, “They all realized that I just needed some encouragement and support.” Just to make sure that both cool and uncool readers get the message, the narrator lets us know that “there are plenty of kind folks who have my back. They’re always there when I need them.” The beany bonhomie doesn’t end at the bottom of the slide, with all gliding down to the shallow end of the pool (“3 INCHES. NO DIVING”) for a splashy finale. This latest early reader starring characters from John and Oswald’s immensely popular Food Group series will be a hit with fans. Fun accessories, such as a bean who rocks pink cat-eye frames, add some pizzazz to the chromatically and somatotypically varied cast.
Another quirky take on the series theme that it’s cool to be kind. (Easy reader. 5-7)Pub Date: March 26, 2024
ISBN: 9780063329560
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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
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