From School Library Journal:
PreSchool-Grade 1-- A book with good intentions to make the very young aware of a variety of social problems, but with a title that relates only to the cover and first four pages. The remainder of the book presents people lined up at a soup kitchen, an old man on a park bench said to be friendless, and several people portrayed as sad and brokenhearted. Brief text in large print on double-page spreads oversimplifies ways to alleviate these situations--"What to do about pollution . . . Stop it./ Clean it up." "What to do about the friendless . . . Be a friend." Suggestions for achieving these goals are seen in the watercolor illustrations that present multiethnic and intergenerational motifs. Gail Gibbons's Recycle (Little, 1992) is better on pollution. For social concerns that evoke more feeling for the less fortunate, see Fly Away Home (Clarion) by Eve Bunting or Diane DiSalvo's Uncle Willie and the Soup Kitchen (Morrow, both 1991) .
-Diane Nunn, Richard E. Byrd Elementary School, Glen Rock, NJ
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Publishers Weekly:
This most basic of life's instruction books strips complexity from the world's problems--hunger, pollution, sickness, loneliness--and reveals a single need. Opening with a wide focus ("What to do about pollution . . . Stop it. Clean it up."), it gradually pulls readers to more immediate, personal concerns ("What to do about the sad and brokenhearted . . . Draw them pictures. Tell them stories. Sing them songs"), and ends with a mother tenderly embraced by her children. The firm, lean text is complemented by the energetic scratches of pen and ink over watercolor. Trivas infuses somber scenes with light and color as the one simple remedy crystallizes: "What to do? / Love." While adults may find this simplification clarifying (and the book's title somewhat misleading), the profundity of the message may be lost on youngsters who haven't dealt with entanglements that frustrate obvious solutions. Ages 3-6.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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