A thoughtful and age-appropriate exploration of a somber subject.
The friendship between two youngsters is challenged by a symbol that means different things to each of their families.
Best friends Keira and Bianca share many similarities and enjoy their time together. However, that time is restricted to school even though they live on the same street. Keira, who is Black, isn’t allowed to visit Bianca, a White child whose parents fly a Confederate flag in their yard. When their class takes a field trip to the Southern Legacy Museum, Keira’s father volunteers to join, and he uses that time to show and explain incidents from Black history and “that flag.” Keira develops an understanding and begins to feel differently toward Bianca, especially when they return to school and Bianca seems totally unaffected by what they saw during their field trip. It takes a violent incident to cause a change of heart in Bianca’s parents. Keira then has a difficult decision regarding their friendship. This is a prime example of how a picture book can help younger readers understand difficult topics. The roles the adults assume in this story are realistic and demonstrate how early Black children must confront the unpleasant realities in society. Smith’s digital illustrations are especially effective in portraying various emotions that Keira experiences. The art has a smudgy, painterly feeling, Smith’s use of light and color enhancing the storytelling as it conveys life-changing events. The backmatter, which includes author and illustrator notes, provides helpful information for adults on the Confederate flag. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A thoughtful and age-appropriate exploration of a somber subject. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-06-309344-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2022
A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends
Gerald the elephant learns a truth familiar to every preschooler—heck, every human: “Waiting is not easy!”
When Piggie cartwheels up to Gerald announcing that she has a surprise for him, Gerald is less than pleased to learn that the “surprise is a surprise.” Gerald pumps Piggie for information (it’s big, it’s pretty, and they can share it), but Piggie holds fast on this basic principle: Gerald will have to wait. Gerald lets out an almighty “GROAN!” Variations on this basic exchange occur throughout the day; Gerald pleads, Piggie insists they must wait; Gerald groans. As the day turns to twilight (signaled by the backgrounds that darken from mauve to gray to charcoal), Gerald gets grumpy. “WE HAVE WASTED THE WHOLE DAY!…And for WHAT!?” Piggie then gestures up to the Milky Way, which an awed Gerald acknowledges “was worth the wait.” Willems relies even more than usual on the slightest of changes in posture, layout and typography, as two waiting figures can’t help but be pretty static. At one point, Piggie assumes the lotus position, infuriating Gerald. Most amusingly, Gerald’s elephantine groans assume weighty physicality in spread-filling speech bubbles that knock Piggie to the ground. And the spectacular, photo-collaged images of the Milky Way that dwarf the two friends makes it clear that it was indeed worth the wait.
A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends . (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4231-9957-1
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2014
A close encounter of the best kind.
Left behind when the space bus departs, a child discovers that the moon isn’t as lifeless as it looks.
While the rest of the space-suited class follows the teacher like ducklings, one laggard carrying crayons and a sketchbook sits down to draw our home planet floating overhead, falls asleep, and wakes to see the bus zooming off. The bright yellow bus, the gaggle of playful field-trippers, and even the dull gray boulders strewn over the equally dull gray lunar surface have a rounded solidity suggestive of Plasticine models in Hare’s wordless but cinematic scenes…as do the rubbery, one-eyed, dull gray creatures (think: those stress-busting dolls with ears that pop out when squeezed) that emerge from the regolith. The mutual shock lasts but a moment before the lunarians eagerly grab the proffered crayons to brighten the bland gray setting with silly designs. The creatures dive into the dust when the bus swoops back down but pop up to exchange goodbye waves with the errant child, who turns out to be an olive-skinned kid with a mop of brown hair last seen drawing one of their new friends with the one crayon—gray, of course—left in the box. Body language is expressive enough in this debut outing to make a verbal narrative superfluous.
A close encounter of the best kind. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: May 14, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4253-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Margaret Ferguson/Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Feb. 5, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019
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