True to life, if lacking cohesion.
Somebody’s cranky.
Like all other characters in this picture book, the first-person narrator isn’t named. She presents as a Black girl with light-brown skin, her hair styled in Afro puffs. The text details that she’s cranky for many reasons, chief among them her mischievous little brother, who is also Black and has darker brown skin and a cloudlike Afro. Illustrator Hatam adroitly uses facial expressions to depict the protagonist’s displeasure with her brother and her angst at perceived injustices meted out by her parents (mom shares the brother’s coloring while the father shares the main character’s). Such details as the narrator’s red, scowling “cranky boots” and interactions with the family’s pets add further interest. The text is masterful in its misdirection and displacement of responsibility: “It’s not my fault that certain people / have no patience at all. / And the cat ate the cookies. / Nothing is fair. / And nobody cares.” While the scenarios feel quite realistic, about three-quarters of the way through, the text begins to use end rhymes: “Then, chances are, after a good, tired flop, / The cranky in me will decide to stop.” This transition both feels disjointed from the beginning part of the book and somehow has the effect of leaching some of the emotional power from the text—and it may make some readers feel confused if not cranky.
True to life, if lacking cohesion. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 11, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-68364-664-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sounds True
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
A disappointing follow-up.
Inventor Izzy Gizmo is back in this sequel to her eponymous debut (2017).
While busily inventing one day, Izzy receives an invitation from the Genius Guild to their annual convention. Though Izzy’s “inventions…don’t always work,” Grandpa (apparently her sole caregiver) encourages her to go. The next day they undertake a long journey “over fields, hills, and waves” and “mile after mile” to isolated Technoff Isle. There, Izzy finds she must compete against four other kids to create the most impressive machine. The colorful, detail-rich illustrations chronicle how poor Izzy is thwarted at every turn by Abi von Lavish, a Veruca Salt–esque character who takes all the supplies for herself. But when Abi abandons her project, Izzy salvages the pieces and decides to take Grandpa’s advice to create a machine that “can really be put to good use.” A frustrated Izzy’s impatience with a friend almost foils her chance at the prize, but all’s well that ends well. There’s much to like: Brown-skinned inventor girl Izzy is an appealing character, it’s great to see a nurturing brown-skinned male caregiver, the idea of an “Invention Convention” is fun, and a sustainable-energy invention is laudable. However, these elements don’t make up for rhymes that often feel forced and a lackluster story.
A disappointing follow-up. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-68263-164-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020
A steady paean to time’s passing and the pleasures found along the way.
A front-seat view of a school bus’s long and varied life.
Deftly invoking the anthropomorphized objects in books of old (as in the works of Virginia Lee Burton), Long introduces readers to a small town and the yellow bus that serves it. Using charcoal and graphite, the author/artist portrays a mostly black-and-white world; he relies on colorful acrylics to depict those who enter the bus (who's described with female pronouns), including children ferried to school. Time goes on, and the bus is repurposed to take the elderly around town. Later, she’s abandoned near an overpass but finds a new role sheltering unhoused people. Finally, she’s taken to a farm, where she becomes a playground for goats. With each iteration, we hear the sounds of her passengers, human and otherwise, and the repeated phrase “And they filled her with joy.” At long last a damming project leaves her underwater, but fish find a home in the bus and make her happy. A final view of the town displays a single wavery point of yellow visible beneath the water. Backmatter explains both Long’s inspiration and the model town he made as a visual aid. Though this is a tale of decay over time, the book’s gentle narration, fun sound effects, and empathy grant the old vehicle dignity in her deconstruction. Characters are diverse.
A steady paean to time’s passing and the pleasures found along the way. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: June 25, 2024
ISBN: 9781250903136
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
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