July 1, 2022
Nina, an exuberant redhead with a big, gap-toothed smile, invites readers to go on an adventure to "looook for kindness in the wild!" Before the outing can start, Nina must put on adventure gear. Readers are asked if they "have an outfit that makes you feel remarkabus and wonder-filled?" Irrepressible Nina does, and everything from rainbow leggings to a purple dress to the content of the expedition backpack is uniquely Nina. Readers soon discover that "being ourselves is the greatest kind of Kind." Out on the street, Nina remarks on the power of saying hello, of joking and laughing, of smelling the flowers in the park. West--the stage name of Andrew Levitt, a drag queen, activist, singer/songwriter, and founder of the Nina West Foundation--offers a charming message about the power of kindness through text packed with bolded and capitalized made-up words that beg to be read aloud. Evans' colorful illustrations brim with manic energy. It's this very lively and engaging presentation that keeps the book from becoming preachy. Though Nina is light-skinned, the other characters vary in skin tone. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A timely message delivered with verve. (Picture book. 4-8)
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October 31, 2022
What does kindness look like? This boisterous picture book by West (the stage name of activist, drag queen, and singer-songwriter Andrew Levitt, founder of the Nina West Foundation) aims to clarify. A light-skinned youth with bright red hair, large eyes, and an enormous grin directly addresses readers: “Nina here.... your lead adventurer” in a search for “kindness in the wild.” After slipping into a multihued outfit that makes the narrator feel “remarkabus and wonder-filled,” Nina encourages readers to observe the different ways people exhibit kindness, for example when they say hello (“the Salutation Exclamation”) and make one another laugh (“the Perpetual Jokester”). And when a bullying situation arises, Nina transforms into a shimmering entity to diffuse the situation with a strident “Be Kind!” Shifting type sizes, made-up words, and Evans’s bold and visually busy digital artwork, which portrays individuals with varying body types and skin tones, fittingly align with the book’s laudable advice to “GO BIG!” and “BE YOU!” Ages 4–8.