Not the best of the Penric books, mostly because there are no surprises to be found. But still a lovely addition to the collection.

A beautiful book about kindness, respect, and thankfulness. I especially love that it includes being kind to oneself and the earth being kind to us, as types of kindness that one can experience. Add this title to any emotional intelligences collection.

Super fun, very thought provoking. Juliet's voice is full and nuanced, with all the complex feelings of early adulthood. The varying cultural settings are also well rounded, and all written from a place of love. Highly recommend, especially if you want to think a bit more about intersectionalist feminism but also want to laugh and cry with a person instead of reading nonfiction.

SO RACIST

The writing was clear and lovely. The world building was strong. The story was...ok. A bit heavy on the self-sacrifice as the only form of good, but fine.

The real issue, what bumps it down to one star, is hidden in the back story of one character. This isn't a spoiler because it is really just a throwaway couple of paragraphs, and it's really really troubling. One character has been cast out from her people because of this story: She saw that creatures across the river were being enslaved, and she saved some of them and brought them home. They then turned against her people and killed many before being killed in turn. Her big mistake, the reason for her disgrace, is that she brought refugees in. And that is never not once in the whole book seen as a worthy or wonderful thing she did. Just a big mistake that she made and now she will live in shame forever. SO BAD. SO RACIST. For this reason and this alone, I would not hand this book to a child.

A wonderful exploration of art, with clear explanations of the educational philosophy underpinnings. Parenting advice that is very specifically target towards encouraging the child's creative process is warm and approachable. I could wish for any images of BIPOC children, though. There is no reason for this book to only include images of white children.

Required reading.

This book is perfectly designed for a lot of different reasons, but the one that really stands out for me is that it could be a reading/processing/accountability group so easily. Everyone has a notebook .Everyone does the exercises, either together or separately and then discuss together. Done! Curriculum all in the book.

I especially liked the explanations of intersectionality and the glossary.

Very sweet reminisces of a girl and her relationship with her Hmong grandmother. Definitely midgrade fiction, for all it's a picture book. In my library this would be shelved with "Skinny J Fiction." As such it has a limited audience, but it is a lovely piece nonetheless.

Solid intro to the ideas of systemic racism, intersectionality, privelge, and what it takes to be anti-racist.

Lovely activities for each season. Each spread has suggestions for nature play, creation "make it wild," experimentation "keep it wild," and a way to extend the experience beyond one day. My only hesitation with this book is that it does assume that you have ready access to a number of natural resources, which is not a given for most families.