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STONE UNDERPANTS

Name: STONE UNDERPANTS
Author: Rebecca Lisle
ISBN: 978-1-84886-311-8

by Rebecca Lisle ; illustrated by Richard Watson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2018

A brief but amusing escapade into underwear history.

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The only thing funnier than underwear? Prehistoric underwear!!

(Bare) necessity may be the mother of invention, but that doesn’t guarantee that one gets it right the first time. It’s the Stone Age, and after chilly cave-dweller Pod informs his father that “I really do need something to keep my bottom warm,” what follows is a series of missteps on the road to success. Naturally, Pod’s father’s first suggestion is that he use stone to make himself some undies. When that leads to a near drowning, the undaunted Pod tries wood, shells, spider webs, mud, and feathers before a woolly mammoth offers up the finest solution. Plenty of visual gags abound in the cartoonish art during Pod’s misadventures, with a highly amused mammoth in the background mirroring young readers’ inevitable delight. But it is Pod’s persistence to engage in trial and error, even in the face of multiple failures, that turns this book from mere Stone Age silliness into a lesson of tackling a problem from multiple angles. Pod and his family are light-skinned, and he has a multiracial group of friends.

A brief but amusing escapade into underwear history. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-84886-311-8

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Maverick Publishing

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION

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THE BEST KIND OF MOONCAKE

by Pearl AuYeung ; illustrated by Pearl AuYeung ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 6, 2022

A historically specific setting with an eternal lesson.

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A child’s special treat is given to a man in need, setting off a chain reaction of kindness.

It is a regular day on Tai Yuen Street in Hong Kong, full of “beeping, bickering, and bartering,” as a child’s parents set up their hawker stand. Suddenly, the usual bustle is interrupted by a THWUMP! as a man who has traveled “a thousand miles” by foot and boat to cross the border into Hong Kong falls to his knees. Bystanders turn away, “uninterested in hearing their own stories retold to them.” However, the protagonist’s mother hears the grumbles of the man’s stomach, and her kids watch horror-struck as she pulls out the special mooncake they were saving—the kind with the double-yolk center (“the best kind!”)—and asks the narrator to bring it to the hungry man. It takes two pages to slowly and sadly walk the treat over and only one gulp for the man to devour the entire cake. However, this single act of kindness unleashes a torrent of generosity from the nearby hawkers. Sepia and cool colors give this tale a historical feel, while delicate cartoon renderings of the bustling market street and crowds of people lighten the tone. In the backmatter, AuYeung notes that this story was based on an incident from her childhood, explains the historical significance of the refugee’s flight to Hong Kong, and shares family photos. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A historically specific setting with an eternal lesson. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022

ISBN: 978-1-64567-556-3

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Page Street

Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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KAFKA AND THE DOLL

by Larissa Theule ; illustrated by Rebecca Green ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 9, 2021

This reimagined telling has an engaging charm that rings true.

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An imagining of an unlikely real-life episode in the life of absurdist Franz Kafka.

Theule follows the outline of the account: When Kafka meets an unhappy girl in a Berlin park in 1923 and learns her doll is lost, Kafka writes a series of letters from Soupsy, the doll, to Irma, the girl. The real letters and the girl’s identity have been lost to history; the invented letters describe a dazzling variety of adventures for Soupsy. Unfortunately, as the letters increase in excitement, Kafka’s health declines (he would die of tuberculosis in June 1924), and he must find a way to end Soupsy’s adventures in a positive way. In an author’s note, readers learn that Kafka chose to write that Soupsy was getting married. Theule instead opts to send the doll on an Antarctic expedition. Irma gets the message that she can do anything, and the final image shows her riding a camel, a copy of Metamorphosis peeking from a satchel. While kids may not care about Kafka, the short relationship between the writer and the little girl will keep their interest. Realizing that an adult can care so much about a child met in the park is empowering. The stylized illustrations, especially those set in the chilly Berlin fall, resemble woodcuts with a German expressionist look. The doll’s adventures look a little sweeter, with more red and blue added to the brown palette of the German scenes. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10.5-by-17-inch double-page spreads viewed at 23% of actual size.)

This reimagined telling has an engaging charm that rings true. (biographical note, bibliography) (Picture book. 5-7)