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I CAN BE ALL THREE

Name: I CAN BE ALL THREE
Author: Salima Alikhan
ISBN: 9781665901840

by Salima Alikhan ; illustrated by Noor Sofi ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 20, 2023

An insightful, imaginative story about embracing our full selves.

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A child celebrates their multifaceted identity and heritage.

At school, with Multicultural Day looming, the unnamed narrator’s teacher asks the class to create a project that celebrates their cultures. The other students immediately identify objects that represent a single country or tradition. But the narrator identifies with three different countries: India, where Papa is from; Germany, where Mama is from, and America, where the family lives now. While at first this collection of identities feels confusing, a German, Indian, and American dessert combination sparks the epiphany the protagonist needs to realize that their story’s complexity is exactly what makes it beautiful. The next day, when the child shares their assignment with their classmates, they are delighted to learn that they are not the only student with a complicated heritage—or the only one who understands how rich a multiracial, multiethnic life can be. This richly illustrated, poetically told story builds upon the tradition of books like Natasha Wing and Robert Casilla’s Jalapeño Bagels (1996) and Malathi Michelle Iyengar and Jennifer Wanardi’s Romina’s Rangoli (2007) with one important addition: It honors the child’s American heritage alongside their parents’ immigrant status. The relatable narratorial voice and lively, momentum-packed pictures combine for a fast-paced story starring a protagonist who finds a creative solution to their problem. This child-centered story eschews pontification in favor of quirky, thought-provoking fun. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

An insightful, imaginative story about embracing our full selves. (Picture book. 3-8)

Pub Date: June 20, 2023

ISBN: 9781665901840

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: April 11, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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SORAYA AND THE MERMAID
by Salima Alikhan ; illustrated by Atieh Sohrabi & Jennifer Naalchigar

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EMMI IN THE CITY
by Salima Alikhan ; illustrated by Alessia Trunfio

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CARPENTER'S HELPER

by Sybil Rosen ; illustrated by Camille Garoche ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.

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A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.

Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: March 16, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random

Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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LOVE FROM THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR

by Eric Carle ; illustrated by Eric Carle ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 15, 2015

Safe to creep on by.

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Carle’s famous caterpillar expresses its love.

In three sentences that stretch out over most of the book’s 32 pages, the (here, at least) not-so-ravenous larva first describes the object of its love, then describes how that loved one makes it feel before concluding, “That’s why… / I[heart]U.” There is little original in either visual or textual content, much of it mined from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. “You are… / …so sweet,” proclaims the caterpillar as it crawls through the hole it’s munched in a strawberry; “…the cherry on my cake,” it says as it perches on the familiar square of chocolate cake; “…the apple of my eye,” it announces as it emerges from an apple. Images familiar from other works join the smiling sun that shone down on the caterpillar as it delivers assurances that “you make… / …the sun shine brighter / …the stars sparkle,” and so on. The book is small, only 7 inches high and 5 ¾ inches across when closed—probably not coincidentally about the size of a greeting card. While generations of children have grown up with the ravenous caterpillar, this collection of Carle imagery and platitudinous sentiment has little of his classic’s charm. The melding of Carle’s caterpillar with Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE on the book’s cover, alas, draws further attention to its derivative nature.

Safe to creep on by. (Picture book. 3-6)