A marvelous mix of autumnal spirits with a deeper call for understanding.
Prejudice collides with neighborly goodwill when love and truth overcome superstition.
“They came in the dark and took the narrow path that only witches used. Everyone said that’s what they were.” A suspicious text laden with ill will and shadowy scratch-lined art full of foreboding imagery fills the top half of the page. On the bottom half, however, a different narrative takes place. The top is told from the perspective of villagers who eye the people in the woods with suspicion bordering on outright accusation (“They brought cloaks and brooms—so many brooms”), while the bottom half is a gentle counterpart (“We brought cloth and wooden handles”). Turns out, the people in the woods are constructing beautiful bird kites to fly. And when harsh winds tear away those kites, the now remorseful villagers bring supplies of their own to help the people of the woods fly their birds again. Certainly the resolution to the conflict between the two groups comes with unrealistic ease, so the true lures here are the art and design. The split pages, containing two conversations at once, require a certain level of sophistication on the part of young readers. Meanwhile, Luyken imbues her art with a palette of blacks, greens, purples, and golds that hint at more than just misunderstandings in the shadows. Characters are diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A marvelous mix of autumnal spirits with a deeper call for understanding. (Picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: Aug. 29, 2023
ISBN: 9780593372838
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2023
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
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode.
A long-running series reaches its closing chapters.
Having, as Kline notes in her warm valedictory acknowledgements, taken 30 years to get through second and third grade, Harry Spooger is overdue to move on—but not just into fourth grade, it turns out, as his family is moving to another town as soon as the school year ends. The news leaves his best friend, narrator “Dougo,” devastated…particularly as Harry doesn’t seem all that fussed about it. With series fans in mind, the author takes Harry through a sort of last-day-of-school farewell tour. From his desk he pulls a burned hot dog and other items that featured in past episodes, says goodbye to Song Lee and other classmates, and even (for the first time ever) leads Doug and readers into his house and memento-strewn room for further reminiscing. Of course, Harry isn’t as blasé about the move as he pretends, and eyes aren’t exactly dry when he departs. But hardly is he out of sight before Doug is meeting Mohammad, a new neighbor from Syria who (along with further diversifying a cast that began as mostly white but has become increasingly multiethnic over the years) will also be starting fourth grade at summer’s end, and planning a written account of his “horrible” buddy’s exploits. Finished illustrations not seen.
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Nov. 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-451-47963-1
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
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