Sweet and engaging.
A young boy broadens his assumptions during his school’s Scintillating Science Symposium.
Aspiring chemist Mo is excited about the prospect of a trophy and a week at science camp for the student who best demonstrates a solution to this challenge: “What is something big you can make with something small?”Mo assesses the competition: a skilled musician, a fast runner, a child adept at melodious nose-blowing, and a girl who can devour a Popsicle in just three bites. And then there’s Muriel, a whimsical artist who wants to be a cat when she grows up. Mo, “a serious scientist” who holds himself to high standards, believes he’s a lock to win. At the symposium, Mo unveils his project—a volcano—but oh no! He’s misplaced a key ingredient. His class shows exemplary kindness, but Mo sulks as Muriel shows the other students her project: She leads them out the door as she draws a purple chalk line down the street. Her surprising take on the challenge charms the class—and offers Mo the opportunity to rectify his volcano. Mo expresses his gratitude, which leads smoothly to backmatter that displays the science behind some of the children’s demonstrations. Endearing, simple art combines with the gently humorous text to create an appropriate STEM read-aloud for primary grade students. Mo slowly comes to the realization that science is also about taking risks and thinking outside the box—sound guidance for burgeoning scientists. Mo presents Black, Muriel appears East Asian, and their class is diverse.
Sweet and engaging. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: April 8, 2025
ISBN: 9781773219455
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Annick Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
Another quirky take on the series theme that it’s cool to be kind.
The cool beans again step up to do a timorous fellow legume a fava…this time at the pool.
Will a rash decision to tackle the multistory super-slide lead to another embarrassing watery fail for our shy protagonist? Nope, for up the stairs right behind comes a trio of cool beans, each a different type and color, all clad in nothing but dark shades. They make an offer: “It’s not as scary if you go with friends!” As the knobby nerd explains once the thrilling ride down is done, “They all realized that I just needed some encouragement and support.” Just to make sure that both cool and uncool readers get the message, the narrator lets us know that “there are plenty of kind folks who have my back. They’re always there when I need them.” The beany bonhomie doesn’t end at the bottom of the slide, with all gliding down to the shallow end of the pool (“3 INCHES. NO DIVING”) for a splashy finale. This latest early reader starring characters from John and Oswald’s immensely popular Food Group series will be a hit with fans. Fun accessories, such as a bean who rocks pink cat-eye frames, add some pizzazz to the chromatically and somatotypically varied cast.
Another quirky take on the series theme that it’s cool to be kind. (Easy reader. 5-7)Pub Date: March 26, 2024
ISBN: 9780063329560
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A retro-futuristic romp, literally and figuratively screwy.
Robo-parents Diode and Lugnut present daughter Cathode with a new little brother—who requires, unfortunately, some assembly.
Arriving in pieces from some mechanistic version of Ikea, little Flange turns out to be a cute but complicated tyke who immediately falls apart…and then rockets uncontrollably about the room after an overconfident uncle tinkers with his basic design. As a squad of helpline techies and bevies of neighbors bearing sludge cake and like treats roll in, the cluttered and increasingly crowded scene deteriorates into madcap chaos—until at last Cath, with help from Roomba-like robodog Sprocket, stages an intervention by whisking the hapless new arrival off to a backyard workshop for a proper assembly and software update. “You’re such a good big sister!” warbles her frazzled mom. Wiesner’s robots display his characteristic clean lines and even hues but endearingly look like vaguely anthropomorphic piles of random jet-engine parts and old vacuum cleaners loosely connected by joints of armored cable. They roll hither and thither through neatly squared-off panels and pages in infectiously comical dismay. Even the end’s domestic tranquility lasts only until Cathode spots the little box buried in the bigger one’s packing material: “TWINS!” (This book was reviewed digitally with 9-by-22-inch double-page spreads viewed at 52% of actual size.)
A retro-futuristic romp, literally and figuratively screwy. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-544-98731-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: June 2, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2020
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