Jenny and her best friend K.C. get a tour of the air base and airplane where Jenny’s Mom is a tanker pilot. Jenny fears for her mother and misses her when she’s away, but she’s also very proud of her. The girls get to go on the plane and try on the pilots’ cool helmets. Jenny’s mother loves her job, and allows Jenny talk through all of her worries, acknowledging and responding to them. She tells the girls about the time in Saudi Arabia the control tower wouldn’t answer because they didn’t think women should be pilots, and she had to get her male co-pilot to make the radio call. Marks’s pictures are quite wonderful, gorgeous depictions of the planes, inside and out, on the ground and in the air. Jenny’s blonde, K.C. is African-American; they and Jenny’s parents and other people at the air base are fully and realistically rendered. A lot of information made palatable for young people while responding to their questions and fears in a post– “shock and awe” world. (Picture book. 5-10)
Pub Date: July 1, 2003
ISBN: 1-57091-555-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2003
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
Told from the point of view of two warring siblings, this could have been an engaging first chapter book. Unfortunately, the length makes it less likely to appeal to the intended audience. Jessie and Evan are usually good friends as well as sister and brother. But the news that bright Jessie will be skipping a grade to join Evan’s fourth-grade class creates tension. Evan believes himself to be less than clever; Jessie’s emotional maturity doesn’t quite measure up to her intelligence. Rivalry and misunderstandings grow as the two compete to earn the most money in the waning days of summer. The plot rolls along smoothly and readers will be able to both follow the action and feel superior to both main characters as their motivations and misconceptions are clearly displayed. Indeed, a bit more subtlety in characterization might have strengthened the book’s appeal. The final resolution is not entirely believable, but the emphasis on cooperation and understanding is clear. Earnest and potentially successful, but just misses the mark. (Fiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: April 23, 2007
ISBN: 0-618-75043-6
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2007
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