Review of Lemonade in Winter, by Emily Jenkins and G. Brian Karas

Contemporary, Mathematical, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

Lemonade in Winter

A Book About Two Kids Counting Money

written by Emily Jenkins
illustrated by G. Brian Karas

Schwartz and Wade Books (Random House), 2012. 36 pages.
Review written October 4, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review
2023 Mathical Honor Book, age 5-7

Okay, here’s a super fun story that also teaches kids how to count money — exactly the sort of thing we look for in the Mathical Book Prize.

It’s a freezing cold day in the neighborhood. Everything’s covered with thick snow, and icicles are hanging everywhere. Inside, big sister Pauline gets what she thinks is a brilliant idea: Let’s have a lemonade stand! Her little brother John-John gets excited, too, and wants to help.

Both parents discourage the idea: “Don’t you see it’s freezing?” “Don’t you hear the wind?”

But the kids gather all the quarters they can find:

“Each time you get four quarters, that’s a dollar,” says Pauline.
“Four quarters, that’s money!” says John-John.

They buy lemons and limes for a dollar each, sugar for two dollars, and cups for two dollars. I like the way the picture shows the quarters laid out on the counter in front of each item.

“We have twenty-four quarters, and that’s six dollars,”
Pauline tells John-John as she counts out the money.

When they’re getting ready to go out, their parents are still discouraging, but they make the lemonade and limeade and set up their stand in the snow in front of their house. They’re selling for fifty cents a cup.

When no one comes, they decide to advertise, and sing a catchy song about lemonade and limeade for fifty cents a cup. (Perfect for reading aloud at storytime!)

Every time they sell a cup, Pauline explains the amounts to John-John:

Fifty cents, that’s two quarters,” Pauline tells John-John.
“Two drinks is four quarters — and that’s a dollar.”
She puts the money in a green plastic box.

They try entertainment — John-John does cartwheels. They keep singing their song. When there still aren’t many people about, they decide to have a sale. Now it’s twenty-five cents a cup. Then they add decorations. And keep singing their song.

When they empty both pitchers, Pauline diagrams out how many cups they sold for how many quarters and adds it all up. When she realizes they only made four dollars, she starts to cry. They started with six dollars!

But John-John has the perfect solution of what to do with their hard-earned four dollars.

After the story, there’s a page at the back with the heading “Pauline Explains Money to John-John.” There’s a wonderful explanation of pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and dollar bills.

I love this book because it’s a truly delightful picture book story, and it’s super good practice counting quarters and how much they’re worth. As well as introducing the concepts of profit and loss. But with a happy ending, despite the loss.

Tremendous fun!

emilyjenkins.com
gbriankaras.com
randomhouse.com/kids

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of My Two Border Towns, by David Bowles, illustrated by Erika Meza

Contemporary, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

My Two Border Towns

by David Bowles
illustrated by Erika Meza

Kokila (Penguin Random House), 2021. 36 pages.
Review written September 30, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review

Here’s a joyful and brightly-colored picture book about a boy who lives in Texas not far from the border with Mexico and goes back and forth between the towns on either side of the river with his father often. I’ve heard the award-winning author speak at library conferences and award celebrations about growing up near the border and about liminal spaces.

This book tells about the boy and his father getting up early, getting a list from his mother, and spending a day on the Other Side.

This town’s a twin of the one where I live, with Spanish spoken everywhere just the same,
but English mostly missing till it pops up like grains of sugar on a chili pepper.

The have an errand at the boy’s aunt and uncle’s jewelry shop, and he plays with his cousins while his dad takes care of that. The boy had brought a special bag with things for his “friends,” and when they work on the shopping list and prescriptions for Mamá, they pick up more things for them.

On the way back over the border, the line is long, but Dad pulls over to the side.

A line of people camp along the edge, entire families from the Caribbean and Central America.

Refugees, Dad calls them. Stuck between two countries.

The U.S. says there’s no room, and Mexico says it can hardly look after its own gente.

Élder sees me and rushes over. His hair is longer than when we first met, almost six months back.

They share their special handshake and the boy shows him the stuff he brought. They have medicine for Élder’s mother, too.

He wishes Élder and his family could go back and forth across the border like they do with their passports.

“Soon, m’ijo,” Dad says. “It’s unfair to make him wait, since our country has room for his family right now.

“But when they get their chance at last, we’ll welcome him with open arms.”

All the way home I imagine a wonderful day,
when all my friends from the Other Side
can go back and forth
between my two
border towns,
just like me.

This book tackles a tough topic, but leaves the reader with an entirely happy message. It gives me a window — I don’t really know anything about what life is like near the border. But it also leaves me in awe of this family who matter-of-factly care for those who need it and don’t see it as doing the needy a favor, but as joyfully sharing with friends.

davidbowles.us
penguin.com/kids

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Review of How Do You Spend? by Cinders McLeod

Animal Characters, Mathematical, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

How Do You Spend?

A Moneybunny Book

by Cinders McLeod

Nancy Paulsen Books (Penguin Random House), 2024. 32 pages.
Review written October 31, 2024, from a book sent to me by the publisher.
Starred Review

How Do You Spend? is a perfectly pitched introduction to spending money for very young children.

Here’s how it begins:

Carrots are money in Bunnyland,
and Bun has saved a lot!

How will Bun spend her carrots?

The following spreads show how Bun spends her carrots. Each page has the format across the top, “Sometimes Bun spends…” with an adjective. The picture shows that day’s spending, and across the bottom you have in a child’s print: “Today I spent x carrots.” with the x filled in with the number spent. I appreciate that on every page, you can see and count the carrots spent.

I appreciate that the book starts with adjectives a young child is more familiar with – Fast (and a picture of Bun running with a shopping cart that is filling up) and Slow (and Bun taking a ride on one of those stationary rides in front of a grocery store).

But the book does go on to pairs like Expensive and Cheap, Ordinary and Exciting. And I like the pairs For Tomorrow (showing piano lessons that cost 2 carrots per month and 24 carrots for a year) and For Today (buying Bunny Hop tickets), and On Herself (ice cream), and On Others (flowers she gives to another bunny).

It’s just a super simple conversation-starter for a young child, ending with the question, “How do you like to spend?” So simple, but so engaging. Basically, you can talk about feelings or the physical act of spending or about numbers – or anything that enters a child’s head.

This book is part of a series. Our library already has one, and I’m planning to order the rest.

Moneybunnies.com
CindersMcLeod.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of The Dictionary Story, by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston

Delightfully Silly, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

The Dictionary Story

by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston

Candlewick Press, 2024.
Review written October 18, 2024, from a library book.
Starred Review

This is probably the first picture book I’m recommending for the sake of the parents, not so much the kids.

Sure, the story for the kids is fun – we’ve got a dictionary that’s jealous of all the other books that have stories inside. So she decides to bring some words to life, and an alligator gets loose and starts going after a donut, which doesn’t want to be eaten, so they start racing through the pages and causing chaos. It’s got Oliver Jeffers’ zany illustrations and silly straight-faced sense of humor.

The illustrations show the characters frolicking through a standard dictionary’s pages – or so I thought until I paused to read the fine print. And that’s when the true brilliance of the book hit me.

I started with the “How to Use This Dictionary” page pictured toward the beginning, was enjoying its quirkiness and noticed that the editors are “Woliver Effers & Jam Spinston.” Then I had to read every single visible entry. (The endpapers are filled with definitions, and there’s also a column of them running along the bottom of most pages.) This meant that it took me much longer to read this book than an ordinary picture book, but I also gained lots of laughter.

I’ll list some of the quirkier definitions:

ajar – A word to describe something as slightly open. Not to be confused with a jar (which works best when mostly closed).

author – The writer of a book, poem or news. They move tiny black marks around (see letters) to discover what interesting shapes they can make in people’s heads (see stories). Sometimes this results in writers being paid. (See good times, donuts and coffee.)

dream – A word for things people see while asleep. Dreams are the brain’s way of showing you that you’re a lot more imaginative than you think. In the day, we fill our heads with sensible things, but dreams prefer to create strange images, such as glow-in-the-dark marmalade and inflatable chicken’s teeth. Some dreams happen when we are awake: Martin Luther King Jr. had a great one. We’ve been studying dreams for ages, and we still don’t really know what they are.

hippopotamus – A very large mammal with short legs that lives near water in Africa. Hippopotamuses are vegetarian. Their idea of a good time is not wearing clothes, floating in water and wallowing in mud. (See spa.)

minnow – A very small freshwater fish that lives in rivers, streams and sometimes lakes. They feed on insects, among other things, and often dream about a time when they will rule all known galaxies.

tall – Above the average height. Which can get quite complicated because a tall turkey is tiny in comparison to a tiny tiger, and a tall tiger is tiny compared to Thailand.

zero – Zero is a word that means nothing. Nothing is a word that means nothing. Even though zero is a different word for nothing, both mean nothing. This definition has just told you nothing.

And here are some excerpts that are especially delightful and completely won my heart:

words – Even though they are small, they are great at making the inside of your head big.

library – Libraries are a bit like forests; they are enchanted places to get lost in.

story – Books carry stories around until someone like you finds them a home in their imagination.

May you find a home for this story in your imagination.

oliverjeffers.com
samwinston.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of Blue Floats Away, by Travis Jonker, pictures by Grant Snider

Fantasy, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

Blue Floats Away

words by Travis Jonker
pictures by Grant Snider

Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2021. 40 pages.
Review written July 26, 2022, from my own copy, signed by the author
Starred Review

Full disclosure: Travis Jonker is a librarian friend. I served on a committee with him at one point and say hello at conferences, all after I followed his blog, 100 Scope Notes. It made me happy when ALA Annual Conference was finally in person again to get a welcoming smile along with the signed book.

The book is a simple story of an iceberg calf named Blue who suddenly breaks off from the iceberg where he lived with his parents. All the characters are expressed by iceberg shapes with three dots for their faces.

The words are simple, and the pictures really make it special. They are also simple, done with what looks like collage and torn paper, but it’s colorful and beautiful. Blue floats away and sees new things. Beautiful things.

Just after he’s made friends who helped him figure out how to get back, he melts away —

But Blue wasn’t gone.
He was changing.

Blue mixed with the ocean water,
evaporated,
condensed,
and was transformed.

Now Blue sees more new things. And learning about air currents, he finds away to get back to his parents in the North.

“Were they ever surprised.”

This is a simple and happy story that would work great in storytime, but there’s also a note in the back about how Blue’s story illustrates the water cycle. So you’ve got some very simple science to go with it.

A really lovely picture book with a happy ending.

travisjonkerbooks.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of Noodles on a Bicycle, by Kyo Maclear & Gracey Zhang

Historical, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

Noodles on a Bicycle

written by Kyo Maclear
illustrated by Gracey Zhang

Random House Studio, 2024. 36 pages.
Review written October 4, 2024, from my own copy, sent to me by the publisher.
Starred Review

I was completely surprised how charmed I was by this picture book. Here’s the beginning:

When the deliverymen set off in the morning
we sit outside
and watch
and wait
for the flicker of pedal and wheel.

It turns out the deliverymen are delivering orders of sobaya noodles from the Old Sobaya shop downtown.

When the orders are ready,
the deliverymen arrive
and stack the ceramic soup bowls and wooden soba boxes.
One tray on top of another.
On top of another.

Then they take off.

We watch them balancing towers on their shoulders.
An arm holding things steady
as their bicycle tires bump, bounce, settle, swoosh.

The story and illustrations are all about these elaborate tall towers, balanced while riding a bike. It turns out that the deliverymen from the New Sobaya shop compete with those from the Old Sobaya shop to see who can make “the tallest and fanciest stack.” And the children themselves get in on the action, trying to pile up their own plates and bowls and ride a bike – with not so excellent results. (But all in good fun, and encouragement from the deliverymen.)

As the day wears on, the children wonder if the deliverymen get tired. Do they dream of noodles all night? And then where I am really charmed is that when the kids’ mother orders noodles from the Old Sobaya shop, the deliveryman who brings them is Papa.

The book finishes up warm and cozy, eating noodles, being tucked into bed, and the parents setting out the clean dishes for Papa as deliveryman to take away with him in the morning.

It’s all just so charming and lovely. What child wouldn’t like to read about a papa who balances towers of dishes while riding a bike? And the Author’s Note at the back tells us this is based on what she saw in her childhood summers in Tokyo and the actual deliverymen who biked on the streets there from the 1930s to the 1970s. A couple of old photographs on the endpapers confirm that the illustrator was, amazingly, not exaggerating. Just a lovely book.

kyomaclear.com
graceyzhang.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of I’m Sorry You Got Mad, written by Kyle Lukoff, illustrated by Julie Kwon

Contemporary, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

I’m Sorry You Got Mad

written by Kyle Lukoff
illustrated by Julie Kwon

Dial Books for Young Readers, 2024. 32 pages.
Review written October 2, 2024, from a library book.
Starred Review

Want to teach young children about apologies? This is the book for you!

But at the same time, the brilliance of this picture book is that it’s not a how-to book; it’s an engaging story that will make you laugh and make you care about the kids involved.

And it’s a scenario that kids will feel deeply. Read this book to kids before they need to apologize, and it will be much, much easier for them to understand when it’s needed.

The book begins with an obviously furious Jack writing notes to Zoe and throwing them in the trash. We get to read the notes as they progress. One of the first ones says this:

DEAR ZOE,
I’M SORRY YOU GOT SO MAD!!!
JACK

Dear Jack,
Please try again.
Love,
Ms. Rice

The next one adds “But it wasn’t my fault!!!” and a note from Ms. Rice to check in with her.

Later letters build the situation: Zoe built a castle and it got knocked over by accident. And then we learn that Jack thought it was really cool, but Ben and Jeremy said castles were for girls so he couldn’t play with them. And he got mad and knocked it over. (It takes many letters for us to get that story.)

Somewhere in the middle, Ms. Rice tells Jack that an apology needs three things:

1) What I did
2) That I’m sorry
3) And I’ll help you fix it.

It takes Jack many tries, and you can see his heart getting softer. Finally, we see him giving a note to Zoe:

Dear Zoe,
I’m very sorry I knocked down your castle. I know I hurt your feelings. I want to help you build a new one, if that’s okay. But you don’t have to let me.
Your Friend,
Jack

The book isn’t finished until we see Zoe’s note in reply, acknowledging that she was mad but she feels better now. And the book wraps up with a picture of them building a castle together.

Mind you, along this whole book, the pictures tell stories, too. First of Jack furiously angry. Then watching other kids having fun. Slowly softening (with setbacks). And there are two other kids who are pictured at the end angry and writing letters – so you go back and see what happened with them.

It’s all brilliant on many levels, including the simple one of modeling a sincere apology and how difficult it is to get to that place, but also telling us a story and making us care about Jack and Zoe and the restoration of their friendship.

Come to think of it, I can think of many adults who could learn from reading this to their child. And I take it as a good reminder myself.

kylelukoff.com
juliekwonart.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of Brown Girls Do Ballet, by TaKiyah Wallace-McMillian, words by JaNay Brown-Wood

Contemporary, Photography, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

Brown Girls Do Ballet

Celebrating Diverse Girls Taking Center Stage

by TaKiyah Wallace-McMillan
words by JaNay Brown-Wood

Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 2024. 40 pages.
Review written September 26, 2024, from a library book
Starred Review

This picture book is about the photographs, and that is reflected in the cover, where the photographer is listed first and as the main creator.

And the photographs are pictures of brown girls doing ballet, exactly as the title says. And they are stunning! We’ve got big girls and small girls, lighter-skinned and darker-skinned girls, beginners and proficient ballerinas, even a disabled girl in and out of her wheelchair. Some of the girls are actively dancing, others are hanging out with friends in their dance gear.

The text that goes along with the photographs is affirming, and specifically addressed to Brown Girls.

Here’s a sample:

Brown Girl, b e n d —
your knees, elbows, neck – and send
awe through each of them so blessed
to witness you in motion,

the vibrance of your beauty
as it glows and grows and flows

from the top of your poised crown to
the tip of pointed toe.

Do you even know the power
that you hold?

So I enjoy this book because of looking at the pictures of beautiful girls, joyful and dancing. I’ve read more than one testimony of a brown ballerina that they began dreaming of dance when they saw a dancer who looked like them. This book brings that experience to many more girls and strongly affirms that they belong. And it’s beautiful to see.

browngirlsdoballet.com
blackdogandleventhal.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of Hello, Neighbor! by Matthew Cordell

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

Hello, Neighbor!

The Kind and Caring World of Mister Rogers

by Matthew Cordell

Neal Porter Books (Holiday House), 2020. 40 pages.
Review written July 7, 2020, from a library book
Starred Review

Hello Neighbor is a picture book biography telling about the life and career of Fred Rogers.

It begins with the Neighborhood – showing a hand placing a car in the model neighborhood and explaining about the television show. Then it goes back and tells about Fred Rogers’ childhood and what brought him into doing television.

I like the way the book captures special things about the show, including the beginning and ending songs, the cast of characters, the special guests, the visits that showed how things were made, and of course the Neighborhood of Make Believe.

Fred played many roles in the making of more than 900 episodes of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. He wrote the scripts. He was songwriter and singer, performer and puppeteer. He oversaw and approved what went on in every episode. Beyond his own contributions, he truly loved working with others. He respected and appreciated the talents and artistry of all who were involved in the creation of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. And because of this, everyone felt connected in a very sincere and personal way.

The illustrations along with the story help make this book special, as they capture so many scenes and people from the show. The spread at the beginning is especially wonderful with a quotation from Fred Rogers on top and a picture of him sitting at the piano composing, with all kinds of characters and things flowing out of the piano in a big creative cloud along with musical notes.

A lovely tribute to a man who was indeed kind and caring, put together in a way that respects and appreciates children. I am confident that Mister Rogers would have been delighted with this book.

matthewcordell.com
HolidayHouse.com

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Review of How to Two, by David Soman

Contemporary, Mathematical, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

How to Two

by David Soman

Dial Books for Young Readers, 2019. 36 pages.
Review written October 4, 2022, from a library book.
Starred Review

Counting books are a staple for parents to share with young children, and this is a beautiful one. You’re counting children playing!

First, we see one child launching off a playground slide, and the words read:

How to one.

That’s pretty much how the text goes. “How to two” shows two kids on a seesaw.

At six, there’s a rainstorm, and the six kids play duck, duck goose under a shelter. The kids go further afield as the numbers get bigger, with “How to eight” involving Hide-and-Seek, and “How to ten” being a grand game of tag.

As the sun sets and parents take all the kids home again, the numbers go back down more quickly. And I almost missed it — but the endpapers at the back show animals to go back and count for each number.

The art is beautiful, the kids are exuberant, and the book does the job of teaching counting from 1 to 10.

davidsoman.com
penguin.com/kids

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