A winning reminder that those who believe in themselves are true champs.
A black sheep makes his mark.
Abtin Moleski’s an anomaly in his family. His forebears—whose stern-faced, medal-draped portraits hang on the walls—were trophy-winning athletes, while Abtin’s poor at sports and doesn’t care about winning. And unlike the other Moleskis, Abtin doesn’t have a mole above his upper lip. Abtin’s father reminds him that he must train, win trophies, wear a gold medal around his neck, eat certain breakfast foods, and sleep, dream, and walk in a prescribed manner. Throughout, the hyperbolic illustrations highlight the stark comparison between diminutive Abtin and his overbearing, glowering, red-faced father. But Abtin’s brushes, paints, and easels make clear his talents lie elsewhere. Troubled, Abtin wonders how to please his father. Finally, he has the solution. Wielding a red-saturated paintbrush, Abtin turns the scowls on his ancestors’ portraits into red smiles; acquiring a mole takes only a daub of black paint. Translated from Farsi, this reassuring, quirky tale mocks outrageous parental demands. Kids will chuckle at the conclusion; those whose parents have high expectations will recognize that the comic, over-exaggerated illustrations are sardonic commentaries. Readers will appreciate self-confident Abtin, an actual champ because he recognizes his own worth and, as an artist, creatively “fixes” his humorously outrageous situation. Abtin is light-skinned and dark-haired, while his family members vary in skin tone; at times, characters are depicted with fancifully red hues.
A winning reminder that those who believe in themselves are true champs. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 2, 2024
ISBN: 9781778401190
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Greystone Kids
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2024
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted...
Reinvention is the name of the game for two blobs of clay.
A blue-eyed gray blob and a brown-eyed brown blob sit side by side, unsure as to what’s going to happen next. The gray anticipates an adventure, while the brown appears apprehensive. A pair of hands descends, and soon, amid a flurry of squishing and prodding and poking and sculpting, a handsome gray wolf and a stately brown owl emerge. The hands disappear, leaving the friends to their own devices. The owl is pleased, but the wolf convinces it that the best is yet to come. An ear pulled here and an extra eye placed there, and before you can shake a carving stick, a spurt of frenetic self-exploration—expressed as a tangled black scribble—reveals a succession of smug hybrid beasts. After all, the opportunity to become a “pig-e-phant” doesn’t come around every day. But the sound of approaching footsteps panics the pair of Picassos. How are they going to “fix [them]selves” on time? Soon a hippopotamus and peacock are staring bug-eyed at a returning pair of astonished hands. The creative naiveté of the “clay mates” is perfectly captured by Petty’s feisty, spot-on dialogue: “This was your idea…and it was a BAD one.” Eldridge’s endearing sculpted images are photographed against the stark white background of an artist’s work table to great effect.
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted fun of their own . (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-30311-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
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
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