![]() ![]() Ultimately, learning to swim turns out to be easy enough with the help of a kind older neighbor-a Black woman with a competitive swimming past of her own as well as a rich and bittersweet understanding of Black Americans’ relationship with swimming-who explains to Bree how racist obstacles of the past can become collective anxiety in the present. This poignant visual crowds some panels just as anxious feelings can crowd the thoughts of otherwise star students like Bree. To illustrate her anxiety around this fact, the graphic novel’s bright colors give way to gray thought bubbles with thick, darkened outlines expressing Bree’s deepest fears and doubts. While her dad is busy working and training in IT, Bree struggles at first to settle into Enith Brigitha Middle School, largely due to the school’s preoccupation with swimming-from the accomplishments of its namesake, a Black Olympian from Curaçao, to its near victory at the state swimming championships. Keeping her head above water may be the trickiest puzzle yet. Leaving Brooklyn behind, Black math-whiz and puzzle lover Bree starts a new life in Florida, where she’ll be tossed into the deep end in more ways than one. Children more fluent in Spanish will be better able to appreciate this, and those familiar with the show will recognize the signature characters, including “Los Pollitos” (Little Chickies). The characters are from the bilingual preschool series Canticos, though it will work even among those without knowledge of the show. Love in any language / always means the same.” A palette of pastels and purple and pink hues dominate as hearts abound on each page, surrounding the characters, who are adorable though on the overly sweet side. An interspersed refrain notes, “Amor for the Spanish, / and love en inglés. Little Elephant asks Spider, “Is it the joy of having you around?” Spider asks, “Is it the way you lift me when I’m down?” Each page corresponds to a flap that reveals one of a multitude of feelings love can evoke in either an English or Spanish rhyme, which are not direct translations of each other. Several animal personalities pose the question, “What is love?” and in a series of lift-the-flap responses present various emotional scenarios. ![]() Still, young readers will flock toward the bird friends and may not mind that the simple plot is easily resolved.Ī facile, fairly conflict-free picture book with charming character design and enough science facts to inspire animal lovers to research further.Īn expanded explanation of love in both English and Spanish. Some of the words are printed in a different color for no apparent reason, and the backgrounds and word balloons are a bit amateurish. With character designs a bit reminiscent of Mo Willems’ Pigeon and Duckling, Newton’s charming, simplistic illustrations might encourage children to attempt their own drawn versions of the bird friends or the rocklike horseshoe crabs. ![]() Young readers may also pick up enough interesting tidbits about horseshoe crabs to want to investigate the fascinating creatures on their own. The plot ends up with no real conflict or character development, since Nate never has to take a stand against his friends’ prejudice and is able to convince them without much trouble, but the story does offer a lesson in empathy, imagining what it’s like to be in someone else’s shoes. Still not convinced, the friends won’t help until Nate encourages them to imagine themselves stranded on an island somewhere. What if they sting? Once again, Nate offers some facts about the crabs: They don’t sting, they’ve been around since the dinosaurs, and they’re useful to humans, who don’t otherwise appear in the book. Nate offers some interesting facts about horseshoe crabs: “April through June, around the full moon, the Horseshoe crabs come out to play.” But when Nate encourages his friends to help the crabs get back to the ocean, the friends reject the idea: The crabs are too creepy looking, they protest. But when they arrive at the beach, they discover that their usual place is covered with horseshoe crabs. Nate, a blue bird with a short, round beak, and his friends Tern Tern, PJ (a pelican) and Gully (who doesn’t appear to be a sea gull) decide to go fishing. Several bird friends overcome their reluctance to help unfamiliar animals in a colorful but lightly plotted picture book by debut author/illustrator Newton. ![]()
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