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THE TIGON AND THE LIGER

Name: THE TIGON AND THE LIGER
Author: Keilly Swift
ISBN: 978-1-9113-7316-2

by Keilly Swift ; illustrated by Cosei Kawa ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2017

A well-meaning miss.

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Rhyming verse sends a message of acceptance for differences in this story about two tigon and liger cubs who find friendship with each other after being rejected by others.

The introductory text explains that a tigon has a tiger father and a lioness mother and is smaller than typical lions, while a liger has a lion father and a tigress mother and is larger than typical tigers. Separately, the cubs are shunned by both lions and tigers, and they flee. When they find each other, they enjoy an immediate sense of comfort and companionship, which ameliorates the hurt they’ve sustained. Eventually, lion and tiger cubs see how much fun the pair is having, and they ask to join in. These actions spur the entire communities of lions and tigers to accept the once-shunned tigon and liger, as well as diversity writ large across species: “They now knew it matters / not one little jot, / who’s big or who’s small, / who has stripes or has spots. // And that goes for… / zedonks and zorses / and all wallaroos, / pumapards, leopons, / and most of all…YOU!” Ultimately the quick-fix, tidy ending undermines the veracity of any real-world application of the story’s message as implied by the closing direct address. Would that it were so easy to dismantle the cruelty meted out against people somehow deemed other.

A well-meaning miss. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-9113-7316-2

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Lantana

Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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CARPENTER'S HELPER

by Sybil Rosen ; illustrated by Camille Garoche ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.

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A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.

Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: March 16, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random

Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)