This introduction to LGBTQ human rights for young children is a gentle and effective one.
The immigration story of Eka and Rainer, a gay Indonesian couple, centers on their cat, Ghost.
Ghost the white cat lives a seemingly idyllic life with her two dads on the island of Java. But because Eka and Rainer “love each other,” they are persecuted by law enforcement and must constantly move in order to stay safe, sometimes fleeing suddenly from immediate danger, much to Ghost’s distress. Her feelings of vulnerability will be easy for children to understand and sympathize with. The couple applies to immigrate to Canada, and after months of waiting, the three fly to a new home and new life. Stevenson tells the real-life story of Eka Nasution and Rainer Oktovianus with simplicity and clarity for younger audiences, and the author’s note gives extended detail on the couple’s immigration, their application for refugee status on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity persecution, and the Canadian organizations that aided this process. Photoshopped illustrations of Oktovianus’ photographs showcase the family, their journey, and their adjustment to their new environment. Both the primary text and the author’s note are written in accessible language, and centering Ghost creates appeal for young readers, who can easily identify with her family’s longing to live their true lives.
This introduction to LGBTQ human rights for young children is a gentle and effective one. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-77530-194-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Rebel Mountain Press
Review Posted Online: June 18, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2019
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
Pigeon finds something better to drive than some old bus.
This time it’s Santa delivering the fateful titular words, and with a “Ho. Ho. Whoa!” the badgering begins: “C’mon! Where’s your holiday spirit? It would be a Christmas MIRACLE! Don’t you want to be part of a Christmas miracle…?” Pigeon is determined: “I can do Santa stuff!” Like wrapping gifts (though the accompanying illustration shows a rather untidy present), delivering them (the image of Pigeon attempting to get an oversize sack down a chimney will have little ones giggling), and eating plenty of cookies. Alas, as Willems’ legion of young fans will gleefully predict, not even Pigeon’s by-now well-honed persuasive powers (“I CAN BE JOLLY!”) will budge the sleigh’s large and stinky reindeer guardian. “BAH. Also humbug.” In the typically minimalist art, the frustrated feathered one sports a floppily expressive green and red elf hat for this seasonal addition to the series—but then discards it at the end for, uh oh, a pair of bunny ears. What could Pigeon have in mind now? “Egg delivery, anyone?”
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781454952770
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.
If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
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