An ideal guide for readers of any age to learn how to be an ally—“one way each of us can help make our world more fair.”
In Wind’s illustrated children’s book, a young girl named Eleanor draws on stories of her namesake, Eleanor Roosevelt, when she wants to be an ally to a nonbinary classmate.
At Eleanor’s school, girls and boys don’t play together at recess, and each group makes a point to exclude the other. Seeing that her nonbinary classmate, Star, is struggling with this situation, Eleanor thinks: “sometimes things are so unfair, I don’t know how to help.” When she asks her dads for help, they share anecdotes about first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and she wonders how she can be more like her. Star is visibly upset when Ms. Galton asks the boys and girls to divide themselves up the next day, but Eleanor remembers how her namesake sat in a folding chair in an aisle in a racially segregated auditorium, rather than choose a side. The youngster grabs her own chair and sits in the middle of the room: “The way my friends and I see it, if all of us are in the middle, then all of us belong.” Mangan’s full-color illustrations are simple but have a genuine sweetness, particularly in portraits of young Eleanor and her dads. The book offers questions for adults to spur discussion, and some are quite thought-provoking: “Share if there’s something you would like to do or try that maybe some people say is not okay because of your gender.” The last pages feature a wonderful graphic on how to be an ally to targets of unfairness, as well as sources for more information about Eleanor Roosevelt. Kids generally understand unfairness when they see it, but they (and many adults) often don’t know what to do in such situations. By pairing young Eleanor’s tale with stories of the activist first lady, youngsters may learn how to draw inspiration from the past to help others. (The illustrations feature a wide variety of skin tones among the students; two wear headscarves, and one wears a hearing aid.)
An ideal guide for readers of any age to learn how to be an ally—“one way each of us can help make our world more fair.”Pub Date: June 3, 2025
ISBN: 9781945369735
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Cardinal Rule Press
Review Posted Online: June 25, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Wins for compassion and for the refusal to let physical limitations hold one back.
With such short arms, how can Tiny T. Rex give a sad friend a hug?
Fleck goes for cute in the simple, minimally detailed illustrations, drawing the diminutive theropod with a chubby turquoise body and little nubs for limbs under a massive, squared-off head. Impelled by the sight of stegosaurian buddy Pointy looking glum, little Tiny sets out to attempt the seemingly impossible, a comforting hug. Having made the rounds seeking advice—the dino’s pea-green dad recommends math; purple, New Age aunt offers cucumber juice (“That is disgusting”); red mom tells him that it’s OK not to be able to hug (“You are tiny, but your heart is big!”), and blue and yellow older sibs suggest practice—Tiny takes up the last as the most immediately useful notion. Unfortunately, the “tree” the little reptile tries to hug turns out to be a pterodactyl’s leg. “Now I am falling,” Tiny notes in the consistently self-referential narrative. “I should not have let go.” Fortunately, Tiny lands on Pointy’s head, and the proclamation that though Rexes’ hugs may be tiny, “I will do my very best because you are my very best friend” proves just the mood-lightening ticket. “Thank you, Tiny. That was the biggest hug ever.” Young audiences always find the “clueless grown-ups” trope a knee-slapper, the overall tone never turns preachy, and Tiny’s instinctive kindness definitely puts him at (gentle) odds with the dinky dino star of Bob Shea’s Dinosaur Vs. series.
Wins for compassion and for the refusal to let physical limitations hold one back. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: March 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4521-7033-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 11, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Totes adorbs.
A cuddly, squishy pug’s puggy-wuggy diary.
Equipped with both #pugunicorn and #pughotdog outfits, pug Baron von Bubbles (aka Bub) is the kind of dog that always dresses to impress. Bub also makes lots of memorable faces, such as the “Hey, you’re not the boss of me!” expression aimed at Duchess, the snooty pink house cat. Some of Bub’s favorite things include skateboarding, a favorite teddy, and eating peanut butter. Bub also loves Bella, who adopted Bub from a fair—it was “love at first sniff.” Together, Bub and Bella do a lot of arts and crafts. Their latest project: entering Bella’s school’s inventor challenge by making a super-duper awesome rocket. But, when the pesky neighborhood squirrel, Nutz, makes off with Bub’s bear, Bub accidentally ruins their project. How will they win the contest? More importantly, how will Bella ever forgive him? May’s cutesy, full-color cartoon art sets the tone for this pug-tastic romp for the new-to–chapter-books crowd. Emojilike faces accentuate Bub’s already expressive character design. Bub’s infectious first-person narration pushes the silly factor off the charts. In addition to creating the look and feel of a diary, the lined paper helps readers follow the eight-chapter story. Most pages have fewer than five sentences, often broken into smaller sections. Additional text appears in color-coded speech bubbles. Bella presents white.
Totes adorbs. (Fiction. 5-7)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-53003-2
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
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