A picture book centering a young emigrant’s journey as well as her homecoming.
Unlike conventional or traditional narratives that launch immigrant characters on one-way passages and their accompanying plots along linear trajectories, this focused family story illustrates modern migration by choice as an evolving tale of round trips through conscious reconnections with one’s origins. The young protagonist moves from Taiwan to San Diego and learns English at school while staying connected with Popo, the grandmother who stayed in Taiwan, via video chats. As time passes, linguistic barriers blur along with ongoing transitions between cultures and geographies: A once-fluent vernacular recedes to accommodate new sounds and expressions until the child even dreams of Popo speaking English. Sympathetic, gentle treatments of aging and illness convey life’s inevitabilities with a loving imagination steeped in the scent of sweet osmanthus. Faithful representations of Chinese-language signage, street scenes, and cityscapes evoke nostalgia for those familiar with Taiwan and its vibrant food culture. Whimsical depictions of Chinese New Year at home and Popo’s kitchen are authentic, down to the accurate details on a calendar, dumpling making from scratch, and the iconic rice cooker. Readers will connect with this visual story on various levels or learn something new; possibly both. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
#Ownvoices tributes to childhood memories of home: It is as much an emotional space as a physical place. (author’s note, illustrator’s note, glossary) (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-24931-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
Categories: CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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A diverse cast of children first makes a fleet of hot air balloons and then takes to the sky in them.
Lifestyle maven Gaines uses this activity as a platform to celebrate diversity in learning and working styles. Some people like to work together; others prefer a solo process. Some take pains to plan extensively; others know exactly what they want and jump right in. Some apply science; others demonstrate artistic prowess. But “see how beautiful it can be when / our differences share the same sky?” Double-page spreads leading up to this moment of liftoff are laid out such that rhyming abcb quatrains typically contain one or two opposing concepts: “Some of us are teachers / and share what we know. / But all of us are learners. / Together is how we grow!” In the accompanying illustration, a bespectacled, Asian-presenting child at a blackboard lectures the other children on “balloon safety.” Gaines’ text has the ring of sincerity, but the sentiment is hardly an original one, and her verse frequently sacrifices scansion for rhyme. Sometimes it abandons both: “We may not look / or work or think the same, / but we all have an / important part to play.” Swaney’s delicate, pastel-hued illustrations do little to expand on the text, but they are pretty. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11.2-by-18.6-inch double-page spreads viewed at 70.7% of actual size.)
As insubstantial as hot air. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Nov. 10, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4003-1423-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tommy Nelson
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2021
Categories: CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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Reinvention is the name of the game for two blobs of clay.
A blue-eyed gray blob and a brown-eyed brown blob sit side by side, unsure as to what’s going to happen next. The gray anticipates an adventure, while the brown appears apprehensive. A pair of hands descends, and soon, amid a flurry of squishing and prodding and poking and sculpting, a handsome gray wolf and a stately brown owl emerge. The hands disappear, leaving the friends to their own devices. The owl is pleased, but the wolf convinces it that the best is yet to come. An ear pulled here and an extra eye placed there, and before you can shake a carving stick, a spurt of frenetic self-exploration—expressed as a tangled black scribble—reveals a succession of smug hybrid beasts. After all, the opportunity to become a “pig-e-phant” doesn’t come around every day. But the sound of approaching footsteps panics the pair of Picassos. How are they going to “fix [them]selves” on time? Soon a hippopotamus and peacock are staring bug-eyed at a returning pair of astonished hands. The creative naiveté of the “clay mates” is perfectly captured by Petty’s feisty, spot-on dialogue: “This was your idea…and it was a BAD one.” Eldridge’s endearing sculpted images are photographed against the stark white background of an artist’s work table to great effect.
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted fun of their own . (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-30311-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
Categories: CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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