A story that feels outdated despite its sturdy, timeless message.
A young princess struggles to find something she is good at.
Princess Charming finds it hard to be perfect—something, she says, everyone expects of her. She tries cooking, dancing, and singing but admits she’s hopeless at them, although she keeps trying. When glamorous movie star Stella Sparkle—illustrated with brown hair and light brown skin—visits the palace to determine if it is a good filming location for her next movie, the princess, a huge fan, is excited to meet her. But when the princess’s dog jumps on Stella and her earring goes missing, will the movie plan be put in jeopardy? It is at this tenuous juncture that Princess Charming finds out exactly what she is good at—a point that is made with some heavy-handedness. While the story includes many racially diverse secondary characters, the fact that the princess and the rest of the royal family are White suggests a power imbalance that undermines the book’s attempt at racial inclusiveness. Princess Charming’s jocular, self-deprecating narration is cute enough. The digital illustrations are lively and colorful, but they merely mirror the text instead of elevating the storyline. The final twist, a play on an old fairy tale, is pleasingly unexpected and solidifies the story’s message in a nuanced way. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A story that feels outdated despite its sturdy, timeless message. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: April 19, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-32678-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Flamingo Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022
If Black Lives Matter, they deserve more specificity than this.
A lushly illustrated picture book with a troubling message.
Little Lala walks with her father after his successful day of fishing. When Mama calls her home for bed, a host of “good night”s delays her: to the bird, the monkey, and even the rock. As Lala wanders through her village in the darkening twilight, readers appreciate its expansive beauty and Lala’s simple joys. Although it’s been artfully written and richly illustrated by an award-winning author of many multicultural stories, this book has problems that overshadow its beauty. “African veld” sets the story in southern Africa, but its vague locale encourages Americans to think that distinctions among African countries don’t matter. Lala wears braids or locks that stick straight up, recalling the 19th-century pickaninny, and her inconsistent skin color ranges from deep ebony like her father’s to light brown. Shadows may cause some of these differences, but if it weren’t for her identifiable hair, readers might wonder if the same child wanders from page to page. Perhaps most striking of all is Lala’s bedtime story: not an African tale but an American classic. While this might evoke nostalgia in some readers, it also suggests that southern Africa has no comparably great bedtime books for Lala, perhaps in part because American children’s literature dominates the world market.
If Black Lives Matter, they deserve more specificity than this. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: March 14, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-17384-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2016
Leave this on the shelf and take the kids outside to really move.
An interactive board book promises a variety of experiences.
A book that gets kids up and moving sounds like a great idea. The half-circle cutout of the spine and large handle formed by another die cut on the right side are intriguing. Unfortunately, the rhyming instructions for using the book as an exercise prop are confusing. Even adults will find themselves puzzled when told to “paddle the floor,” or to “hang on the handles. Step over the book. / You're a turtle in its shell! Go peek out and look.” The busy pictures shift perspective according to each scenario presented but give few visual clues. For example, the only hint of a dinosaur on the page where readers are told to “put this book to your mouth and let out a roar” like a dinosaur are the teeth that line the edges of what is meant to be a gaping maw. It’s not always obvious whether the book is meant to be facing readers or turned away from them, adding another layer of confusion. Furthermore, many of the instructions run counter to how young children are typically taught to treat books, as when they are told to step on it and then waddle or to lift it with their feet. The relatively thin board pages and weak handles will soon be torn by normal handling; following the directions in the text will only hasten the destruction.
Leave this on the shelf and take the kids outside to really move. (Board book. 3-5)Pub Date: May 3, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7611-8733-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Workman
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
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