A traditional hero gets a courageous, compassionate makeover in this pleasing, well-illustrated story.
In a twist on a familiar fairy tale, Jack rescues the bean crop and a sad Giant in this children’s book.
Young Jack Garbanzo lives with his parents. They’re farmers, but Jack prefers carpentry. The Garbanzos’ field of magical beanstalks has lost its enchantment and turned spindly ever since a green-skinned, droopy-eyed young Giant slipped from his cloud and fell into town. Ostracized and mocked, he’s been hiding in the bean field, where he sobs salty tears of misery every night. With the family’s bean harvest threatened, Jack ventures out one night to ask the Giant why he’s crying. He explains that “I’m a nice guy...well, Giant. I miss my mom, dad, and my cat, Puss ’N Boots.” He regrets ruining the crops but can’t go home now by climbing a beanstalk; the weakened plants won’t support his weight. Taking pity on the unfairly maligned Giant, Jack uses his woodworking skills to build a huge spiral staircase surrounding the tallest stalk. As he’s working, the townspeople come to appreciate the friendly Giant, and everyone says an affectionate goodbye when he’s finally able to climb home. Howell keeps her anti-bullying fable from becoming too preachy or heavy-handed, explaining simply that the townsfolk “did not like the clumsy Giant child who didn’t look like them.” Humor, often bean-themed, also uplifts the tale, as with the Garbanzos living in the town of Pinto. Gledhill’s well-composed, richly colored illustrations add another layer of whimsy through details such as fairies teasing the Giant’s pet frog. The mix of classic fairy-tale elements with an updated sensibility works well, and Jack is an appealingly brave and kindhearted hero, sneaking out in the middle of the night to visit the Giant everyone else fears or scorns.
A traditional hero gets a courageous, compassionate makeover in this pleasing, well-illustrated story.Pub Date: May 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-64764-667-7
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Atmosphere Press
Review Posted Online: June 4, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode.
A long-running series reaches its closing chapters.
Having, as Kline notes in her warm valedictory acknowledgements, taken 30 years to get through second and third grade, Harry Spooger is overdue to move on—but not just into fourth grade, it turns out, as his family is moving to another town as soon as the school year ends. The news leaves his best friend, narrator “Dougo,” devastated…particularly as Harry doesn’t seem all that fussed about it. With series fans in mind, the author takes Harry through a sort of last-day-of-school farewell tour. From his desk he pulls a burned hot dog and other items that featured in past episodes, says goodbye to Song Lee and other classmates, and even (for the first time ever) leads Doug and readers into his house and memento-strewn room for further reminiscing. Of course, Harry isn’t as blasé about the move as he pretends, and eyes aren’t exactly dry when he departs. But hardly is he out of sight before Doug is meeting Mohammad, a new neighbor from Syria who (along with further diversifying a cast that began as mostly white but has become increasingly multiethnic over the years) will also be starting fourth grade at summer’s end, and planning a written account of his “horrible” buddy’s exploits. Finished illustrations not seen.
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Nov. 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-451-47963-1
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
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