Dear Boy

April 1, 2019

PreS-Gr 1-This companion to Dear Girl, follows the same format of short motivational messages, this time addressing boys. The notes range from inspirational if somewhat cliched advice like "believe in yourself" and "give it your all," to moral guidance, urging the boys to "Be kind" and honest, and touching upon the importance of consent- "Yes means yes. Anything else means no." Though the book attempts to celebrate cultural diversity and challenge stereotypical masculinity, such as suggesting that it's ok to play with trucks and dolls, or to feel sad, both the text and illustrations feature some problematic assumptions. "Make friends with girls." because "Believe it or not, girls are pretty awesome" implies that every boy must be persuaded of the value of girls. Similarly, the suggestion to "Find kids who are like you. Find kids who are unlike you," while a great sentiment, depicts the "like kids" as a white hockey team while the "unlike" ones are a diverse choir. As in the previous installment, Hatham's playful mixed media illustrations portray most of the boy addressees as black and white cartoons, perhaps unintentionally reinforcing whiteness as default blankness while relegating the diverse boys and girls of all skin and hair colors to secondary supportive roles. VERDICT With an undercurrent of fraught issues in its loving sentimentality, a likely purchase for many collections given the runaway success of its predecessor.-Yelena Voysey, formerly at Pickering Educational Library, Boston University

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2019
A follow-up to Paris Rosenthal's advice-filled work written in collaboration with her late mother, Amy Krouse Rosenthal, Dear Girl, (2017).Young gentlemen need guidance too, so Paris Rosenthal partners with her father this time to dispense words of wisdom to boys. Some of the advice is quite pedestrian: "Dear Boy, Always trust magic"; "Dear Boy, If you need one more reminder to pursue your dreams, then here it is: Pursue your dreams." Some of it echoes Dear Girl: "Find kids who are like you. / Find kids who are unlike you." And some directly speaks to the heart: "Honesty is one thing / that will never lead you down the wrong road." Touching on masculinity, consent ("Yes means yes. / Anything else means no"), encouragement, and kindness, the text offers nothing that is misguided, but it does seem to be missing a spark of surprise. A tiny bit of the unusual. (But, one supposes, since Amy Krause Rosenthal's death, so is the world.) Parallel to Dear Girl, 's protagonist, Hatam creates a paper-white boy with round-dotted eyes to explore the various scenarios. Friends of other, varying shades are in the periphery and background. Raising and nurturing tiny humans, regardless of gender, is a difficult task--this stands as a reminder that love should be always present. (Picture book. 4-8)

COPYRIGHT(2019) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.