Highflying humor and heart.
Young Jacob, uniquely able to fly, has a big adventure with birds on his way to join his parents on a Mediterranean vacation.
Jacob’s peculiarity is introduced with humor and warmth: His parents hoped their baby would start crawling, but “he just flew off instead.” The text then assures readers that the parents quickly overcame anxiety over Jacob’s difference, loving him because that is what parents do. The lightheartedness continues as the mother and father easily agree to let their child fly alone for their upcoming vacation while the parents fly by airplane. Jacob bonds with various animals during his solo flight, eventually joining a flock of 83 birds. When Hubert—one of those birds—is nabbed by “a notorious birdcatcher,” Jacob and the birds become partners in avian heroics. Extra fun: Children will enjoy counting 15 “cranky cows,” 31 “snacky squirrels,” and, of course, those 83 “birds on their way to Africa.” The translated text is full of understated humor and funny words, such as shenanigansand bamboozled. The comical cartoon art matches the high quality and whimsy of the text. There is a magical double-page spread that shows Jacob mostly submerged in a woodland pond and surrounded by many varieties of happy, celebrating birds. The story comes full circle as Jacob and a new companion reunite with Jacob’s parents. Jacob and his parents are White, probably middle-class Germans.
Highflying humor and heart. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-73312-126-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Blue Dot Kids Press
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.
The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
While the blend of folklore, fantasy and realism is certainly far-fetched, Imani, with her winning personality, is a child...
Imani endures the insults heaped upon her by the other village children, but she never gives up her dreams.
The Masai girl is tiny compared to the other children, but she is full of imagination and perseverance. Luckily, she has a mother who believes in her and tells her stories that will fuel that imagination. Mama tells her about the moon goddess, Olapa, who wins over the sun god. She tells Imani about Anansi, the trickster spider who vanquishes a larger snake. (Troublingly, the fact that Anansi is a West African figure, not of the Masai, goes unaddressed in both text and author’s note.) Inspired, the tiny girl tries to find new ways to achieve her dream: to touch the moon. One day, after crashing to the ground yet again when her leafy wings fail, she is ready to forget her hopes. That night, she witnesses the adumu, the special warriors’ jumping dance. Imani wakes the next morning, determined to jump to the moon. After jumping all day, she reaches the moon, meets Olapa and receives a special present from the goddess, a small moon rock. Now she becomes the storyteller when she relates her adventure to Mama. The watercolor-and-graphite illustrations have been enhanced digitally, and the night scenes of storytelling and fantasy with their glowing stars and moons have a more powerful impact than the daytime scenes, with their blander colors.
While the blend of folklore, fantasy and realism is certainly far-fetched, Imani, with her winning personality, is a child to be admired. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-934133-57-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Mackinac Island Press
Review Posted Online: July 28, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2014
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