Not a history: a celebration of some of the world’s cold, milky confections, familiar and novel.
A mouthwatering global tour of some favorite frozen treats.
Each spread in this book features children around the world sitting down to a host of desserts. Leo and his parents have hazelnut gelato served in a warm brioche in Italy, Neza eagerly anticipates soft serve in Rwanda, Omar and Papa serve baklava-sprinkled gelato in their gelateria in Libya, Zara and Syed buy mango-flavored kulfi in India, Uncle John cheers up a disappointed Tui with hokey pokey in New Zealand, and children at a birthday party eat sundaes in the U.S. This last scene is realistic (one small child has a grubby hand plunged into the chocolate sprinkles). Smaller text offers more context about each sweet treat. Some readers might feel surfeited, but no brain freeze will follow the informative descriptions. A world map at the end locates the treats, and a final page explains the differences among four types of frozen dessert. The illustrations use mostly soft pastel color blocks that are free of lines as well as simplified forms and facial expressions. People are diverse throughout. A final scene depicts eight of the far-flung children picnicking together with their treats. Parental warning: The possibility of ice cream for breakfast is posed as a valid option. All in all, ice cream lovers will emerge satisfied—and eager to try out some potentially unfamiliar confections.
Not a history: a celebration of some of the world’s cold, milky confections, familiar and novel. (author’s note) (Picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: March 15, 2024
ISBN: 9781534113084
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2024
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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