Shari’s experiences will help children learn how to listen to themselves.
Shari T. Fairy loves to share. Her joy comes from making others happy, but some of her friends are concerned that Shari is so busy sharing, she doesn’t notice that she isn’t being treated fairly in return.
Shari’s fairy-godmother friends ask: “Isn’t it unfair that no one else gives back as much?” And: “Does anyone say thank you?” And: “Would people still be your friend if you didn’t share?” Shari considers what they say and decides to try not sharing, just to see how it feels. Almost immediately, the smiling and happy fairy becomes lonely and sad. Worse, she begins to question her motives for sharing with others. Does she share just so people will like her? Shari takes some time to check in with herself, and she realizes that “something is wrong. Something feels off. Something feels all jammed up inside.” Here, Curato’s cotton-candy colors dim to gloomy purple. It takes a visit from some of Shari’s other fairy friends to remind her who she is and what she loves to do. This book will work well as a read-aloud for older children who will have experienced situations in which they question themselves and have begun to consider how their friends see them. Readers will enjoy Curato’s colorful group of fairies, who present in a number of shapes, sizes, colors, and genders. Shari herself has light-brown skin and puffy bubble-gum-pink hair. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-17-inch double-page spreads viewed at 23.7% of actual size.)
Shari’s experiences will help children learn how to listen to themselves. (Picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: April 13, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-22230-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Imprint
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
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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