Just don’t.
How will there be peace when Apostrofee keeps eating letters in words and replacing them with himself?
Dee, an anthropomorphic letter D with stick arms, googly eyes, expressive eyebrows, and a mouth (like all the letters of the alphabet in this book), thinks the best words start with her, like delish. So she’s not amused when Apostrofee, similarly anthropomorphized but toothy—for chomping unneeded letters—moves in and makes the word d’lish. Many of the letters get upset about their kind being eaten, especially the O’s (according to Apostrofee, they taste like “little air donuts,” though they do give him gas). At this point, the narrative turns instructive, with an outright (if not especially well-organized) lesson in contractions interrupted by a single spread about ownership. When Apostrofee punctuates his refusal to play nice with the letters with a flurry of O-eating, it results in such a bad case of gas he floats away. The other letters bemoan his fate until Dee finds a solution. The book ends abruptly with a shared dinner of alphabet soup, the letters now suddenly accepting of Apostrofee’s ways. Hale’s letters are cute, and the book design makes it evident that each prefers words that start with themselves. While the text makes it clear how they are formed, though, the word contraction is never used, and many of the shortened words aren’t actually used IRL: d’lighted, d’vour, d’plorable. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Just don’t. (Informational picture book. 5-10)Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5253-0326-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2021
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
Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on...
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)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6649-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
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