The Magical Yet

January 1, 2020
Children realize their dreams one step at a time in this story about growth mindset. A child crashes and damages a new bicycle on a dark, rainy day. Attempting a wheelie, the novice cyclist falls onto the sidewalk, grimacing, and, having internalized this setback as failure, vows to never ride again but to "walk...forever." Then the unnamed protagonist happens upon a glowing orb in the forest, a "thought rearranger-er"--a luminous pink fairy called the Magical Yet. This Yet reminds the child of past accomplishments and encourages perseverance. The second-person rhyming couplets remind readers that mistakes are part of learning and that with patience and effort, children can achieve. Readers see the protagonist learn to ride the bike before a flash-forward shows the child as a capable college graduate confidently designing a sleek new bike. This book shines with diversity: racial, ethnic, ability, and gender. The gender-indeterminate protagonist has light brown skin and exuberant curly locks; Amid the bustling secondary cast, one child uses a prosthesis, and another wears hijab. At no point in the text is the Yet defined as a metaphor for a growth mindset; adults reading with younger children will likely need to clarify this abstract lesson. The artwork is powerful and detailed--pay special attention to the endpapers that progress to show the Yet at work. A solid if message-driven conversation starter about the hard parts of learning. (Picture book. 4-8)

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April 1, 2020

PreS-Gr 1-A child with brown skin and curly brown hair stands sadly in the rain next to a bike with a crumpled front wheel, then picks up the bike and starts riding. On the way, the child discovers a small glowing orb that blooms into an adorable flowery creature, the titular Magical Yet! The text explains that everyone has a Yet, a helpful reminder to keep striving, whatever their goal may be. With the Yet's encouragement, the young child repairs the bike and tries the hill again, this time riding triumphantly off into the sunset. DiTerlizzi's rhyming text flows crisply across each page, and the creative wordplay employs parentheses, colons, and ellipses to help create a dramatic and musical reading. Bright, geometric, illustrations with a warm and rich color palette show an incredibly diverse set of young enthusiasts painting, playing, and creating in all sorts of media. Special attention is given to a young male dancer, who is then shown as an adult soaring gracefully across the page. Thoughtful details abound, such as on the final pages where we see the main character, now grown, surrounded by pictures of bike journeys taken in far-off lands, bike blueprints, designs, and awards. VERDICT An inclusive and joyful addition to most libraries.-Laken Hottle, Providence Community Library

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 10, 2020
Uplifting verse by DiTerlizzi (Just Add Glitter) takes its cue from the popular “growth mindset” educational movement, which encourages kids to see failure as a temporary setback instead of the final verdict. Digital vignettes by Alvarez (Starring Carmen!) follow a brown-skinned girl learning to ride a bicycle: “Then, when you thought you were on the right track,/ you popped a wheelie and fell on your back.” She walks the bike home, scowling. “No riding for you,” DiTerlizzi writes, voicing the girl’s discouragement, “you’ll walk... forever.” A burst of fuchsia light appears: it’s the Magical Yet, a flying sprite with delicate, flowerlike petals who “finds a way,/ even when you don’t.” Metered verse describes children overcoming blunders (“Yet doesn’t mind... fixes, and flops”), which Alvarez illustrates with crisp-edged, animation-style images: one child becomes a ballet dancer, another completes an ambitious painting after a sloppy paint spill. With splashy artwork and catchy rhymes, the creators give families and educators a tool that spurs kids on to success. Ages 3–5. Author’s agent: Elena Giovinazzo, Pippin Properties. Illustrator’s agent: Anne Moore Armstrong, the Bright Agency.