On the Fourth of July

Gr 1--2--This colorful, multicultural Fourth of July story will be a welcome read-aloud for the holiday. In short rhyming stanzas that mostly scan well, Rudd describes the course of the evening as a large cast of characters experience the Fourth of July fireworks. The poetic text is spare, evocative, and reads aloud well. However, the real star here is the illustrations. In full-bleed scenes, Chavarri depicts a diverse cast of children and their families preparing for the big night, watching the fireworks, and heading home after the last flicker. The digital-looking art uses bright, saturated colors and includes children of a variety of skin colors and ethnicities, as well as one using a wheelchair. The artwork is engaging and appealing, depicting the children with large eyes and sweet smiles. Chavarri does a lovely job with the fireworks, using colorful swoops and sprays, creating glowing auras around some of the characters, and adding a red glow to depict the light and reflections. The bright colors and brief rhyming text will lend itself well to read-alouds in story hours as well as one-on-one. VERDICT Most libraries will find this appealing, accessible book a welcome addition to holiday shelves.--Amy Lilien-Harper

A town observes Independence Day. This colorful, rhyming picture book spotlights families celebrating a standard American Fourth of July. There are references to sparklers, cookouts, and parades as a sunny day transitions into night, building anticipation for a fireworks show. A lengthy description of an unnamed town's big display dominates the story, ending with a good night's sleep as children "dream of the colors red, white, and blue." Written in a loose ABCB rhyme scheme with occasionally diverse meter, this is more like a structured list of things an American child might expect to see on that particular date than a story. Rather than following a specific character or group or coalescing around a plot or idea, the book depicts a racially diverse group of youngsters and their adults (many of whom are members of the armed forces, indicated by their clothes) who are simply celebrating. There's very little information about the holiday itself, and the only hint as to the "why" of the day is a single page's mention of honking horns and a vague reference to "let freedom ring" and a cheer of "Happy birthday, America." (This book was reviewed digitally.) A jaunty, kid-friendly celebration of the Fourth of July, though light on story and background information. (Picture book. 3-7) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.