They are both trucks, but diametrically opposing personalities make them a mechanized odd couple.
New-school jitters may render some trucks wobbly in the gears, but for others it’s an opportunity for fun. Outgoing Mack is a go-getter who loves to take risks while quiet Rig is eaten up with anxiety. When their bespectacled teacher, a semi named Miss Rhodes (what else?), pairs them up on a twisty track, the two have a hard time finding their groove. Mack is constantly leaving Rig in his dust, but when the time comes for some tricky backward driving, the speedster discovers that sometimes having a patient friend is worth more than getting ahead. Evoking a dry and dusty Western landscape rife with cactuses and roadrunners, Leung manipulates his digital art to make his vehicular characters as demonstrative as possible. The little Rig in particular has expressive eyebrows that knot into a perfect curlicue when worried and slope and dip with every disappointment. Refreshingly, the authors do not dodge the truth that sometimes you will finish last. But while tears may be shed, it is by no means the end of your race.
Looks like the first-day-of-school genre just got a high-octane upgrade. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-23654-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 12, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
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An immigrant couple’s empowering love letter to their child.
Baby Mei rests in her parents’ embrace, flanked by Chinese architecture on one side and the New York skyline on the other. She will be a bridge across the “oceans and worlds and cultures” that separate her parents from their homeland, China. Mei—a Chinese word which means beautiful—shares a name with her family’s new home: Měi Guó (America). Her parents acknowledge the hypocrisy of xenophobia: “It’s a strange world we live in—people will call you different with one breath and then say that we all look the same with the next angry breath.” Mei will have the responsibility of being “teacher and translator” to her parents. They might not be able to completely shield her from racism, othering, and the pressures of assimilation, but they can reassure and empower her—and they do. Mei and young readers are encouraged to rely on the “golden flame” of strength, power, and hope they carry within them. The second-person narration adds intimacy to the lyrical text. Diao’s lovely digital artwork works in tandem with Chen’s rich textual imagery to celebrate Chinese culture, family history, and language. The illustrations incorporate touchstones of Chinese mythology and art—a majestic dragon, a phoenix, and lotus flowers—as well as family photographs. One double-page spread depicts a lineup of notable Chinese Americans. In the backmatter, Chen and Diao relay their own family stories of immigration. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A shining affirmation of Chinese American identity. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-84205-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022
Categories: CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY
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Parr focuses his simplistic childlike art and declarative sentences on gratitude for the pleasures and wonders of a child’s everyday life.
Using images of both kids and animals, each colorful scene in bold primary colors declaims a reason to be thankful. “I am thankful for my hair because it makes me unique” shows a yellow-faced child with a wild purple coiffure, indicating self-esteem. An elephant with large pink ears happily exclaims, “I am thankful for my ears because they let me hear words like ‘I love you.’ ” Humor is interjected with, “I am thankful for underwear because I like to wear it on my head.” (Parents will hope that it is clean, but potty-humor–loving children probably won’t care.) Children are encouraged to be thankful for feet, music, school, vacations and the library, “because it is filled with endless adventures,” among other things. The book’s cheery, upbeat message is clearly meant to inspire optimistic gratitude; Parr exhorts children to “remember some [things to be thankful for] every day.”
Uncomplicated and worthwhile for any age. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-316-18101-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2012
Categories: CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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