(This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.) Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. Let’s hope more people, starting with this picture book’s audience, embrace it.Ī home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.

Penfold and Kaufman have outdone themselves in delivering a vital message in today’s political climate. Kaufman’s acrylic, ink, crayon, collage, and Photoshop illustrations bring the many personalities in this school community to life. What is most wonderful, though, is the way they interact with one another without regard to their many differences. A rainbow of hair colors and skin tones is in evidence, and children with disabilities are also included: a blind boy, a girl in a wheelchair, and several kids with glasses. Several kids point to their home countries on a world map, and some wear markers of their cultural or religious groups: There’s a girl in hijab, a boy wearing a Sikh patka, and a boy in a kippah. All are welcome here.” Indeed, this school is diversity exemplified.

In between, the rhyming verses focus on aspects of a typical school day, always ending with the titular phrase: “Time for lunch-what a spread! / A dozen different kinds of bread. A lively city school celebrates its diversity.įront endpapers show adult caregivers walking their charges to school, the families a delightful mix that includes interracial, same-sex, and heterosexual couples as well as single caregivers the rear endpapers assemble them again at the conclusion of a successful schoolwide evening potluck.

All are welcome penfold