SMALL WORLD

Name: SMALL WORLD
Author: Ishta Mercurio
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3407-6

by Ishta Mercurio ; illustrated by Jen Corace ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 2, 2019

A thought-provoking and evocative book that may unfortunately fail to pique the interest of its target audience but may also...

bookshelf

A young girl discovers her world as she grows up.

Little Nanda’s world begins in her mother’s arms when she is a small baby. As she grows, her world expands too. From friends and family to new places and new discoveries, Nanda pushes the limits of her world as much as possible—until one day, she realizes her world is the same as it was when she was a baby in her mother’s arms: “safe, warm, small.” Rich, imaginative text paints a beautiful picture of Nanda’s life and generously weaves in figurative language (“It soared through a symphony of glass and stone. / It spooled through spirals of wire and foam”). It is also refreshing to see Nanda depicted as a strong South Asian girl protagonist who blends in and yet stands out. Unfortunately, some of the text and the broader underlying concept of the book—which takes her through college and beyond to a career as an astronaut—may be hard to grasp for the target preschool audience. Corace’s illustrations, created using gouache, ink, and acrylic, effortlessly show Nanda’s curiosity and the diverse world we all live in today. Attention to detail and authenticity in the illustrations is evident on each page.

A thought-provoking and evocative book that may unfortunately fail to pique the interest of its target audience but may also provide a fresh substitute for Oh, the Places You’ll Go come graduation season. (author’s note) (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: July 2, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-4197-3407-6

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Abrams

Review Posted Online: April 9, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2019

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

bookshelf

ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

bookshelf

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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

- BOOK REVIEW
FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

bookshelf

A BIKE LIKE SERGIO'S

by Maribeth Boelts ; illustrated by Noah Z. Jones ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 4, 2016

Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on...

bookshelf

Continuing from their acclaimed Those Shoes (2007), Boelts and Jones entwine conversations on money, motives, and morality.

This second collaboration between author and illustrator is set within an urban multicultural streetscape, where brown-skinned protagonist Ruben wishes for a bike like his friend Sergio’s. He wishes, but Ruben knows too well the pressure his family feels to prioritize the essentials. While Sergio buys a pack of football cards from Sonny’s Grocery, Ruben must buy the bread his mom wants. A familiar lady drops what Ruben believes to be a $1 bill, but picking it up, to his shock, he discovers $100! Is this Ruben’s chance to get himself the bike of his dreams? In a fateful twist, Ruben loses track of the C-note and is sent into a panic. After finally finding it nestled deep in a backpack pocket, he comes to a sense of moral clarity: “I remember how it was for me when that money that was hers—then mine—was gone.” When he returns the bill to her, the lady offers Ruben her blessing, leaving him with double-dipped emotions, “happy and mixed up, full and empty.” Readers will be pleased that there’s no reward for Ruben’s choice of integrity beyond the priceless love and warmth of a family’s care and pride.

Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on children. (Picture book. 5-8)