This sweet tale of ingenuity and kindness to all creatures tries, but it does not fully measure up to its potential.
How do you stop elephants from trampling your orchard, damaging your trees, and destroying your ripe clementines every night?
Young Fatima, dark-haired, dark-eyed, and brown-skinned, lives with her bearded, turbaned grandfather in an unnamed country. They take care of their clementine orchard, which is their livelihood, with the help of the spiders that eat tree-destroying insects. But when those sweet, ripe clementines attract an elephant mama and two baby elephants, neither loud noises, buckets of water, nor thrown pistachios will distract them. How can their trees and their fruit be saved? Grandfather buys a rifle and three bullets, but can Fatima find a more peaceful solution? She encourages her spider friends to spin a thick wall of webs around the orchard, which repels the elephants. Illustrations by Grimard are gorgeous, mostly in warm hues of orange, brown, and blue, with expressive faces and hardly any specific ethnic touches. The text, dramatic and occasionally heavy-handed, is Messier’s own translation of her French text, first published in 2012. The book concludes with an adaptation of the Ethiopian proverb that says “When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion,” rendering it as “When spider webs unite, they can stop elephants” and calling it simply a generic “African proverb.”
This sweet tale of ingenuity and kindness to all creatures tries, but it does not fully measure up to its potential. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-88995-529-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Red Deer Press
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
An affirming, though lackluster, look at a loving queer family.
For his debut picture book, teacher and activist Chasten Buttigieg draws inspiration from life with husband Pete Buttigieg, former U.S. transportation secretary.
The big day has finally arrived! Rosie and Jojo have been counting down the days until Papa comes home from his work trip. With a little help from Daddy, they make “welcome home” signs to greet Papa at the airport, pick flowers from the garden, and bake a “seven-layer chocolate cake with purple and yellow frosting.” Much to Daddy’s bemusement, the kids gather all of Papa’s favorite things, including his robe and slippers and their adorable pooch, Butter, as they walk out the door to pick up Papa from his travels. The author offers an affectionate portrait of the everyday domestic life of a same-sex family unit. While many kids and adults will be pleased to see their experiences reflected on the page, both the choppy writing and the flat digital artwork are fairly bland. Characters display similarly excited facial expressions throughout, while the portrayal of the children borders on overly cutesy at times, with intentionally misspelled signs throughout the house (“Papa’s Very Spechull Garden. Please do not tutch”). Like the author’s actual children, Rosie and Jojo are brown-skinned, while Daddy and Papa present white.
An affirming, though lackluster, look at a loving queer family. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: May 20, 2025
ISBN: 9780593693988
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.
In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.
Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780063387843
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
