Images and text may not always be in sync, but Fallon is as easy to root for as Haiti is lovely to gaze upon in this...
“In the hills of Port-au-Prince,” little Fallon has a lot on her mind as she accompanies her mother into the bustling market, but more than anything, she wants to carry a panye on her head.
When Manman invites her on this rite of passage for the women in their family, Fallon delights in seeing her mother carrying the titular woven basket upon her head through their lively Haitian community. Using rich colors and textures, Palacios imagines a world of plush green spaces and sandy roadways enveloping a Caribbean urban center swirling with brown faces amid colorful buildings. Charles’ story follows the traveling duo as Manman’s enviable grace and strength with the panye upon her head mirror other women’s. Readers’ eyes wander across landscapes of Francophone signage and busy commerce to find Fallon and her mother in the thick of things. At other times, pointed use of negative space makes connections between the panye and family, care and balance, explicit to both Fallon and readers. A friendly yet unacknowledged dog tagging along for the trip is a winsome detail, but readers will notice that Palacios misses some opportunities to expand on the text. Even though Kreyòl dialogue and phrases are at times left untranslated, clarity comes with both contextual clues and the story’s overarching sentiment that things of great importance—like a bird’s nest, or nich zwazo—take time.
Images and text may not always be in sync, but Fallon is as easy to root for as Haiti is lovely to gaze upon in this graceful book. (author's note) (Picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7636-9749-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2020
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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