An author’s note and glossary of key Jewish wedding vocabulary round out this saccharine introductory story for youngsters...
A young nephew must relinquish some of his valued soccer practice time to attend his favorite uncle’s wedding and is rewarded.
Chafing at being stuck at the wedding instead of doing soccer drills, Daniel expresses his discontent while kicking a ball across the lawn before the day’s festivities begin. The boy is willing to be a part of the day’s event yet is concerned that marriage may change the way Uncle Eli spends time with him. Hoping to get his uncle’s attention (and unfamiliar with the many rituals involved in a Jewish wedding), Daniel offers to help by signing the marriage contract known as a ketubah or by holding one of the chuppah poles of the wedding canopy only to be rebuffed. Finally, the much-anticipated promise of a special role is fulfilled when Eli requires some help with the traditional breaking of glass at the end of the nuptials. Daniel duly complies with some extra-strong foot stomping. Thin-lined watercolor caricatures in a muted palette present a droll though somewhat unflattering atmosphere for this Judaic setting. Daniel’s two grandmothers, Bubbe Tillie and Bubbe Millie, make up a rather grating Greek chorus with their singsong, rhyming commentary: “A simcha! So sweet”; “Such nachas! Let’s eat!”
An author’s note and glossary of key Jewish wedding vocabulary round out this saccharine introductory story for youngsters attending their first ceremony. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: March 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-8075-8293-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: Jan. 9, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2015
This multigenerational snuggle will encourage the sharing of old memories and the creation of new ones.
Hill and Bobbiesi send a humungous hug from grandmothers to their granddaughters everywhere.
Delicate cartoon art adds details to the rhyming text showing multigenerational commonalities. “You and I are alike in such wonderful ways. / You will see more and more as you grow” (as grandmother and granddaughter enjoy the backyard together); “I wobbled uncertainly just as you did / whenever I tried something new” (as a toddler takes first steps); “And if a bad dream woke me up in the night, / I snuggled up with my lovey too” (grandmother kisses granddaughter, who clutches a plush narwhal). Grandmother-granddaughter pairs share everyday joys like eating ice cream, dancing “in the rain,” and making “up silly games.” Although some activities skew stereotypically feminine (baking, yoga), a grandmother helps with a quintessential volcano experiment (this pair presents black, adding valuable STEM representation), another cheers on a young wheelchair athlete (both present Asian), and a third, wearing a hijab, accompanies her brown-skinned granddaughter on a peace march, as it is “important to speak out for what you believe.” The message of unconditional love is clear throughout: “When you need me, I’ll be there to listen and care. / There is nothing that keeps us apart.” The finished book will include “stationery…for a special letter from Grandma to you!”
This multigenerational snuggle will encourage the sharing of old memories and the creation of new ones. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-7282-0623-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
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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