“An exciting romp full of good advice.” the supervillain’s guide to being a fat kid
THE SUPERVILLAIN’S GUIDE TO BEING A FAT KID
Wallace, Matt Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins (272 pp.) $16.99 | Jan. 25, 2022 978-0-06-300803-8 A fat boy battles bullies in a tale full of villains, heroes, bullies, and good guys. Maxwell Tercero is 11 and in his first year of middle school—where he finds that, just like elementary school, things are no fun for a fat kid. He is mercilessly and cruelly bullied by older students, led by popular eighth grade athlete Johnny “Johnny Pro” Properzi, and while Max doesn’t necessarily want to hurt Johnny, he does want to give him a sense of the pain he’s causing. Max eventually reaches out to incarcerated supervillain Maximo “Master Plan” Marconius III, who is also fat and who agrees to help Max change his life, inside and out. Master Plan helps Max along his own journey to body positivity, as well as toward victory over the bullies, with some very good advice. However, this help does not come without strings attached, and things rapidly spin out of control for Max, his friends, and others. Body positivity is usually the province of books about girls, so it is refreshing to see the focus here on a boy. Master Plan understands what it’s like to be dismissed as the fat kid, and his advice is so good it is a shame that he is writing from prison. Main characters read as White. An exciting romp full of good advice and featuring a fun protagonist. (Fiction. 8-12)
b o a r d & n o v e lt y b o o k s KINDNESS WITH CONFUCIUS
Armitage, Duane & Maureen McQuerry Illus. by Robin Rosenthal Putnam (20 pp.) $8.99 | July 20, 2021 978-0-593-32295-6 Series: Big Ideas for Little Philosophers, 5 Using the teachings of Confucius, this book presents young children with ways to practice kindness. The Big Ideas for Little Philosophers series uses the reflections of well-known philosophers as a guide to encourage more thoughtful and positive attitudes in young children. It sounds like an overly ambitious and perhaps not age-appropriate vehicle, and yet the authors have managed to distill these teachings on kindness in a simple and accessible manner for child readers. This entry begins by introducing young readers to Confucius and the Confucian virtue of “ren” which denotes humaneness. 174
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15 november 2021
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children ’s
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Children are encouraged to use their own feelings as a guide to “help others feel the way we like to feel.” Delightfully, some questions invite reflection without providing pat answers— such as, “If someone leaves you out of a game, how does that make you feel?” and “How can you be helpful today?” We read that all people deserve kindness, and the colorful, friendly, attractive illustrations underscore this idea by depicting racially diverse people of all ages as well as differently abled children. A companion volume, Love With Plato, deals with ideas that are more abstract and, therefore, more complex, inviting children to think rather than act. We read that we can love things we can see but that “Plato said it is most important to love ideas, like GOODNESS, TRUTH, AND BEAUTY.” Text and illustrations depict examples of all three followed by a prompt that asks readers to consider what is important in their own lives. A sweet approach to encouraging meaningful discussions. (Board book. 2-4) (Love With Plato: 978-0-5933-2299-4)
SNAP! Chomp Your Jaws!
Barner, Bob Chronicle Books (10 pp.) $14.99 | Aug. 17, 2021 978-1-4521-7942-1
Pull-tabs bounce back with a satisfying snap! Using the same novelty format of Snap! Stick Out Your Tongue! (2020), Barner focuses on five animals known for their ferocious jaws. Readers pull the wide tabs to open the jaws and teeth of a lion, a gorilla, a crocodile, a hippo, and a great white shark. When releasing the tab, the jaws snap shut. The hidden elastic is strong and securely attached—it takes some effort to even pull the tab—and after repeated readings, children are not likely to break it. Younger children may not manage to release it fast enough to elicit the “snap!” sound. Brief text in a clean font against white backgrounds offers facts about how each animal uses its jaws, and nonthreatening images fill the pages. The choice of animals is somewhat erratic. A male lion with its characteristic mane, shown on the cover, shares a tab with the interior image of a lioness, the text explaining that she does the actual hunting. The crocodile gently carrying its babies in its jaws is followed by a hippo whose jaws can crush a crocodile. The size of the shark is emphasized by a larger tab pulled from the recto instead of from the bottom as with the other tabs. Doubtless there are more than five animals with snapping jaws. Let’s hope there is a sequel in the works. Jaw-dropping fun. (Novelty board book. 2-5)
kirkus.com
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