Though preachy, this simple, creatively illustrated story encourages empathy and compassion.
Imagine what you would do with a magic pencil.
Margarita, who lives with her two dads, has a play date with Daniel and Charlie, who have two moms. On the way to the park, they see their neighbor Mrs. Cranky’s hungry cat and feed it even though it means buying milk and jumping over Mrs. Cranky’s fence. They expect Mrs. Cranky to be mad at them, but she rewards their kindness with a magic pencil (for Margarita), a sharpener (for Daniel), and an eraser (for Charlie). The trio soon learn that whatever the pencil draws becomes real. Thankfully, the magic eraser solves the problem of a castle in the middle of the road that blocks traffic. Too soon, the pencil wears down, and the children realize they’ve drawn only things for themselves. After some resharpening, they quickly begin drawing houses, hospitals, and schools for people who need them. With the pencil’s stub, Margarita draws lots of hearts so that “everyone would love one another, even if they were different, from different countries, of different skin colors ….People with two moms or two dads.” While a little didactic, the story, translated from Spanish, raises thought-provoking questions: What would a reader do if they received a magic pencil? The book’s illustrations make inspired use of collage, mixing cartoonish images of the children with photos of cats, fences, a lawn, and more. Margarita has light skin, blond hair, and blue eyes, while Daniel and Charlie have brown skin and black hair. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Though preachy, this simple, creatively illustrated story encourages empathy and compassion. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-84-18599-59-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: NubeOcho
Review Posted Online: July 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2022
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre.
Ice princess Lina must navigate family and school in this early chapter read.
The family picnic is today. This is not a typical gathering, since Lina’s maternal relatives are a royal family of Windtamers who have power over the weather and live in castles floating on clouds. Lina herself is mixed race, with black hair and a tan complexion like her Asian-presenting mother’s; her Groundling father appears to be a white human. While making a grand entrance at the castle of her grandfather, the North Wind, she fails to successfully ride a gust of wind and crashes in front of her entire family. This prompts her stern grandfather to ask that Lina move in with him so he can teach her to control her powers. Desperate to avoid this, Lina and her friend Claudia, who is black, get Lina accepted at the Hilltop Science and Arts Academy. Lina’s parents allow her to go as long as she does lessons with grandpa on Saturdays. However, fitting in at a Groundling school is rough, especially when your powers start freak winter storms! With the story unfurling in diary format, bright-pink–highlighted grayscale illustrations help move the plot along. There are slight gaps in the storytelling and the pacing is occasionally uneven, but Lina is full of spunk and promotes self-acceptance.
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre. (Fantasy. 5-8)Pub Date: June 25, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-35393-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
A gentle adventure that sets the stage for future quests.
A lonely prince gains a friend for a quest to find a missing jewel.
Prince Lucas of Wrenly has everything a boy could possibly want—except a friend. His father has forbidden him to play with the village children for reasons of propriety. Adventure-seeking Lucas acquires peasant clothes to masquerade as a commoner and make friends, but he is caught out. His mother, the queen, persuades the king to allow him one friend: Clara, the daughter of her personal dressmaker. When the queen’s prized emerald pendant goes missing, Lucas and Clara set off to find it. They follow the jewel as it changes hands, interviewing each temporary owner. Their adventure cleverly introduces the series’ world and peoples, taking the children to the fairy island of Primlox, the trolls’ home of Burth, the wizard island of Hobsgrove and finally Mermaid’s Cove. By befriending the mermaids, Lucas and Clara finally recover the jewel. In thanks, the king gives Clara a horse of her own so that she may ride with Lucas on their future adventures. The third-person narration is generally unobtrusive, allowing the characters to take center stage. The charming, medieval-flavored illustrations set the fairy-tale scene and take up enough page space that new and reluctant readers won’t be overwhelmed by text.
A gentle adventure that sets the stage for future quests. (Fantasy. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4424-9691-0
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2014
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