June 4, 2024 by Candlewick
Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central
Ava is a very 2020's kind of gal; she's impetuous, fearless, and often acts without thinking. Her family reacts productively to her most of the time, and keeps her worst impulses in check. It's interesting to compare characters from the history of early chapter books; Haywood's 1930s era B is for Betsy would be considered quite the prissy, too well behaved girl today, and Parks 1990s Junie B. Jones would probably have a diagnosis, medication, and a therapist! Ava is somewhere in the middle, and is a realistic, young character who is trying to figure out her life.
This is a very early chapter book, and perfect for readers who are the same age as Ava, and just starting to be able to hand more extended text. The black and white line drawings are expressive and help support text comprehension.
Ava would be a good friend to Hiranandani's Phoebe Green, DiCamillo's Bink and Gollie, and Manushskin's Katie Woo. I would love to read some of these with a first graders and see what they think of the different ways that children behave in books!
Good Points Ava is very excited to be starting first grade, especially since her cousin Nikki, who is in fifth grade, met her very best friend when she was that age. Ava is well prepared, with two lunch boxes and a dress with pockets. She is excited about Spaulding Elementary and her teacher, Ms. Montgomery. She sits next to Kushi, who seems friendly enough. At lunch, Kushi offers her a delicious looking crunchy snack, but having seen how her parents act when they are offered something to try, she declines, even though she is disappointed. Later, Ava finds a small, sparkly jewel stuck to her chair, and puts it in her pocket. Because Kushi has been so nice, she offers the jewel to her, and is sad when her new friend actually accepts it. Of course, this means that Ava is able to have some crunchy snacks until Ms. Montgomery reminds them that there is a very strict no sharing policy. Ava likes small, exciting finds like snail shells and anything sparkly, and these often end up in her pockets. So does a crayon, and her mother decides that Ava has to wear a dress with no pockets to school. Of course, Ava finds a sparkly stone while the class is doing a mosaic art project. To keep it safe, she puts it in her EAR. This results in Ava's mother having to come get her and take her to the doctor to have the stone removed. Ava gets to wear pockets again, and is now friends with Kushi. She has yet to fully bedazzle her notebook, but she's working on it, and will be able to progress further in Ava Lin: One of a Kind, which is being published in January of 2025.
Wrestling Against Anger: Sulaiman's Challenging Neighbour #4
June 18, 2024 by Kube Publishing Ltd
Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central
Sulaiman lives in a housing estate with his mother, father, and young sister Hannah. He is glad to take more responsibility and to help out, so is glad to be asked to go to the local store to get bread and milk. However, there is a man who has been hanging out in the area, yelling at passersby. He is older and doesn't look particularly kempt, and he shouts his abuse at everyone. Sulaiman's mother reminds him to be kind, and the idea of patience and self restraint is repeated by his judo teacher. When the man, Mr. Cartwright, yells at Sulaiman's family when they are on their way home from the market, Sulaiman thinks that he might need to use his judo skills to protect his family. Instead, Mr. Cartwright falls and hurts himself badly. Sulaiman's father is passing by the market, and insists that they all wait until the paramedics arrive. The mother gets a blanket from their apartment, and even though the man is still angry and shouting, they all wait. When help arrives, Sulaiman's father wants to go to the hospital with Mr. Cartwright, in case he needs anything. The doctors think Mr. Cartwright has a broken hip, but it turns out to just be some high blood pressure and heart issues that could be helped by reining in his anger. He eventually warms to Sulaiman's family after it is apparent that his own family situation was unfortunate. They invite their neighbor to join them at a charity fair on Christmas, and he surprises them by cleaning up well and being friendly. Sulaiman's parents remind him that it is important to be kind to everyone, even those who seem to deserve it least.
This is the fourth in a series of books that includes A Race to Prayer (Salah): Sulaiman's Rewarding Day, Turning Back to Allah: Sulaiman's Caving Calamity and Learning to Deal with Loss: Sulaiman and the Tides of Change, and is published by a press that devotes itself to Muslim authors and issues. There are a lot of religious details that are worked into the story in a realistic way, and there are even quotes from religious texts to support the various ideals.
This has a definite British feel to it, but most of the story will be accessible to US audiences as well. I appreciated that Sulaiman was involved in judo, and had squabbles with his younger sister. The parents were both very supportive, even though they were busy working and taking care of the household.
There are full color interior illustrations that will appeal to readers who like pictures with their stories. Looking at the cover, I thought this might be a graphic novel, but it wasn't. The text is simple, and the book is only about 80 pages long, so this would be a good choice for emergent readers who enjoyed family stories with Muslim characters like Nuurali's Sadiq series, Faruqi's Meet Yasmin!, Khan's Zayd Saleem or Rauf's The Boy at the Back of the Class.
This was rather didactic in tone, and reminded me a tiny bit of either the Veggietales or Davey and Goliath videos, even those are aggressively Christian. Something about the combination of story and illustrations had me humming the Veggietales theme song to myself!
June 18, 2024 by Kube Publishing Ltd
Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central
Sulaiman lives in a housing estate with his mother, father, and young sister Hannah. He is glad to take more responsibility and to help out, so is glad to be asked to go to the local store to get bread and milk. However, there is a man who has been hanging out in the area, yelling at passersby. He is older and doesn't look particularly kempt, and he shouts his abuse at everyone. Sulaiman's mother reminds him to be kind, and the idea of patience and self restraint is repeated by his judo teacher. When the man, Mr. Cartwright, yells at Sulaiman's family when they are on their way home from the market, Sulaiman thinks that he might need to use his judo skills to protect his family. Instead, Mr. Cartwright falls and hurts himself badly. Sulaiman's father is passing by the market, and insists that they all wait until the paramedics arrive. The mother gets a blanket from their apartment, and even though the man is still angry and shouting, they all wait. When help arrives, Sulaiman's father wants to go to the hospital with Mr. Cartwright, in case he needs anything. The doctors think Mr. Cartwright has a broken hip, but it turns out to just be some high blood pressure and heart issues that could be helped by reining in his anger. He eventually warms to Sulaiman's family after it is apparent that his own family situation was unfortunate. They invite their neighbor to join them at a charity fair on Christmas, and he surprises them by cleaning up well and being friendly. Sulaiman's parents remind him that it is important to be kind to everyone, even those who seem to deserve it least.
This is the fourth in a series of books that includes A Race to Prayer (Salah): Sulaiman's Rewarding Day, Turning Back to Allah: Sulaiman's Caving Calamity and Learning to Deal with Loss: Sulaiman and the Tides of Change, and is published by a press that devotes itself to Muslim authors and issues. There are a lot of religious details that are worked into the story in a realistic way, and there are even quotes from religious texts to support the various ideals.
This has a definite British feel to it, but most of the story will be accessible to US audiences as well. I appreciated that Sulaiman was involved in judo, and had squabbles with his younger sister. The parents were both very supportive, even though they were busy working and taking care of the household.
There are full color interior illustrations that will appeal to readers who like pictures with their stories. Looking at the cover, I thought this might be a graphic novel, but it wasn't. The text is simple, and the book is only about 80 pages long, so this would be a good choice for emergent readers who enjoyed family stories with Muslim characters like Nuurali's Sadiq series, Faruqi's Meet Yasmin!, Khan's Zayd Saleem or Rauf's The Boy at the Back of the Class.
This was rather didactic in tone, and reminded me a tiny bit of either the Veggietales or Davey and Goliath videos, even those are aggressively Christian. Something about the combination of story and illustrations had me humming the Veggietales theme song to myself!
Mindy Kim and the Mid-Autumn Festival (Mindy Kim #10)
September 26, 2023 by Aladdin
Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central
Mindy'a father gets a call from Korea that his own father has passed away. After a hasty consultation with his wife, Julie, they tell Mindy that the family will be traveling back to attend the grandfather's funeral and celebrate Chuseok with the extended family. Mindy has good memories of her Harabeogi, but is excited to go back to Korea, and to see her Halmeoni (grandmother). First, they have to drive from Orlando to Atlanta, and it's a long flight. The extended family welcomes them, and the preparations for the funeral and the Chuseok celebration begin. Mindy is able to talk to her cousins, who miss Harabeogi even more than she does, and gets a lot of insight into the traditional ways that lives are celebrated. She helps with the shopping and food preparation, and is interested in the way that the feast is presented to the deceased ancestors before the living are invited to partake. The Kim family has a burial plot in the mountains. There's a lot of traffic, since everyone is celebrating, but the family plot is deeply historical, and Mindy learns a little about the 25 generations of her family whose ashes are interred there. The family also goes to a historical village so that Mindy and her cousins, as well as some of the aunts and uncles, can play traditional autumn festival games. Mindy knows that her Harabeogi would want the family to enjoy themselves for the holiday, and is glad that he is first and foremost in everyone's mind as the celebrate both the festival and his life.
Elementary school students often experience their first funerals around this age, and it is frequently a grandparent who passed away. Funerals vary from culture to culture, but books depicting funerals are a good way of helping children navigate both their grief and unfamiliar experiences.
It's very common for children to not know their cousins well or see them often, so it was good to see Mindy get along with her cousins, and to be able to hear their memories of her grandfather without being too jealous. I loved that she also got some insight into her father's younger years by talking to her uncle.
It is more common to find picture books about death and grief, and while this is certainly a major part of this book, it is more a book about being with family and celebrating together. Several other popular chapter book series touch on holidays and celebrations as well, so I would recommend Florence's Jasmine Toguchi: Mochi Queen, Saadia Faruqi's Marya Khan and the Incredible Henna Party, and Reem Faruqi's Anisa's International Day as titles to consider if you like this Mindy Kim installment.
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