Overall, a sensitive approach to a difficult issue that will certainly provoke discussion.
A little girl and her grandmother wake early to prepare for the trip to visit the girl’s father.
There are smiles of excited anticipation as Grandma fries chicken and braids the little girl’s hair before they catch the bus. The bus ride has a festive air as the riders share lunch. Finally, they arrive at the prison where Daddy waits eagerly to see his daughter and mother. Once home, Grandma reassures the girl that “one day we’ll be able to wake up and have Daddy right there in our house again.” Ransome’s (Quilt Counting, p. 951, etc.) lovely, bold acrylic paintings depict the girl and her grandmother in a neat, well-ordered, well-cared-for environment—even the scenes in the prison are cheery and bright and imply that the inmates are not violent offenders. Woodson (Our Gracie Aunt, not reviewed, etc.) and Ransome accomplish the goal of representing a loving family holding up admirably in the face of adversity. Nevertheless, for some it may be difficult not to wonder what Daddy did to land in prison. The girl’s family may love each other unconditionally (as the jacket copy states), but it is a more difficult job for the reader whose questions about Daddy go unanswered. That all the prison inmates but one are black, as are all the visitors, while the prison guard is white raises another set of questions. Although this reflects a reality about disproportionate incarceration rates for African-American men, does it also perpetuate stereotypes?
Overall, a sensitive approach to a difficult issue that will certainly provoke discussion. (author and illustrator notes) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-590-40005-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2002
PERSPECTIVES
Give this child’s-eye view of a day at the beach with an attentive father high marks for coziness: “When your ball blows across the sand and into the ocean and starts to drift away, your daddy could say, Didn’t I tell you not to play too close to the waves? But he doesn’t. He wades out into the cold water. And he brings your ball back to the beach and plays roll and catch with you.” Alley depicts a moppet and her relaxed-looking dad (to all appearances a single parent) in informally drawn beach and domestic settings: playing together, snuggling up on the sofa and finally hugging each other goodnight. The third-person voice is a bit distancing, but it makes the togetherness less treacly, and Dad’s mix of love and competence is less insulting, to parents and children both, than Douglas Wood’s What Dads Can’t Do (2000), illus by Doug Cushman. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: May 23, 2005
ISBN: 0-618-00361-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2005
Long-winded but uplifting nonetheless.
Comedian, singer, and YouTube star Rainbow urges readers not to let others dim their light.
Young Randy Rainbow lives life out loud. While his classmates wear “dull blue jeans and drab T-shirts,” he sports “brightly colored three-piece suits and sparkly bow ties,” paints his nails, and listens to Broadway albums. After being called a “weirdo” at school, he tries to tamp down his sparkly side. While helping his grandmother sort through some of her old belongings, he stumbles across a pair of magical cat-eye glasses that, according to Nanny, allow whoever puts them on to “be anything and anywhere [they] want.” After rocking the glasses at school and a number of other locations, Randy becomes popular and confident, but when he breaks them on the way to a birthday party, he’s despondent. Nanny reveals that the glasses never had any powers; the magic was in Randy all along. While the message about being true to oneself is an important one, the unevenly paced, wordy text often tells more than it shows. At times it feels as though the author’s trying to pad out a somewhat thin story; multiple examples of Randy sporting his new specs in a variety of scenarios drag quite a bit. Swirls of pink feature prominently in MacGibbon’s cartoon illustrations. Randy and Nanny are pale-skinned; hints in the text suggest that they may be Jewish.
Long-winded but uplifting nonetheless. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: May 27, 2025
ISBN: 9781250900777
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: March 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025
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