A deliciously effervescent celebration of family and resilience.
After enduring a humiliating incident, Izzy just wants to be left alone.
Izzy’s “the PRESIDENT of mistakes.” She dribbles queso on her homework, steps in dog poo, and knocks her sibling’s toothbrush into the toilet. After making an especially embarrassing gaffe at school one day, Izzy’s in no mood for a family get-together, but it’s tortilla night! Izzy and her Abuelito (Lito) start rolling dough in the kitchen, but frustrated Izzy keeps messing up. Lito eats her ill-shapen tortillas and lends a sympathetic ear as she reveals what happened earlier. Lito rolls a fresh tortilla and encourages Izzy to “fill” it by retelling her story. Together, they create a mistake taco, or “mistaco,” as Izzy dubs it, and munch on the results. The exercise in openness proves to be tasty, and other family members share past blunders and craft their own mistacos. With her authorial debut, Pura Belpré Honor–winning illustrator Kinkz conveys a message all kids need to hear: Everyone makes mistakes, and owning them can bring relief and even joy. Her signature, scribbly cartoons brim with chaos, capturing the energy of a boisterous, tightknit Latine family. In Izzy, Kinkz has created a fully realized youngster who’s equal parts goofy exuberance and vulnerable insecurity. Izzy’s family members vary in skin tone and speak a mix of Spanish and English; an author’s note offers insight into this blend of languages, known as Spanglish.
A deliciously effervescent celebration of family and resilience. (suggestions for making mistacos) (Picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: April 1, 2025
ISBN: 9780593700235
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Kokila
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2025
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
Charming.
An assortment of unusual characters form friendships and help each other become their best selves.
Mr. and Mrs. Tupper, who live at Number 3 Ramshorn Drive, are antiquarians. Their daughter, Jillian, loves and cares for a plant named Ivy, who has “three speckles on each leaf and three letters in her name.” Toasty, the grumpy goldfish, lives in an octagonal tank and wishes he were Jillian’s favorite; when Arthur the spider arrives inside an antique desk, he brings wisdom and insight. Ollie the violet plant, Louise the bee, and Sunny the canary each arrive with their own quirks and problems to solve. Each character has a distinct personality and perspective; sometimes they clash, but more often they learn to empathize, see each other’s points of view, and work to help one another. They also help the Tupper family with bills and a burglar. The Fan brothers’ soft-edged, old-fashioned, black-and-white illustrations depict Toasty and Arthur with tiny hats; Ivy and Ollie have facial expressions on their plant pots. The Tuppers have paper-white skin and dark hair. The story comes together like a recipe: Simple ingredients combine, transform, and rise into something wonderful. In its matter-of-fact wisdom, rich vocabulary (often defined within the text), hint of magic, and empathetic nonhuman characters who solve problems in creative ways, this delightful work is reminiscent of Ferris by Kate DiCamillo, Our Friend Hedgehog by Lauren Castillo, and Ivy Lost and Found by Cynthia Lord and Stephanie Graegin.
Charming. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: May 27, 2025
ISBN: 9781665942485
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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