Uma Wimple Charts Her House

April 5, 2021
Uma loves to make charts, and Gibson (The Ghastly Dandies Do the Classics) shows her efforts in elementary school–style drawings: “When I was five, I made a chart of all the trees I passed on the way to school.” There are more: a pizza pie chart of her family’s topping preferences, a screen-time bar chart (her father exceeds the recommended number of hours). Pastel digital artwork with clean lines portrays the large white family that Larsen (I Am Radar, for adults) writes about: Uma, her parents, three brothers, and multiple pets. One day, Uma announces a new project—a strangely unclear “chart of our own home.” But Uma is anxious instead of thrilled, unclear on how to “chart something so big, so important, so complicated.” Tension accumulates as she asks her family what “makes a house housey,” resulting in a meltdown that Lukey, her younger brother, talks her down from. “Nothing is impossible,” he says, which is enough to get her going. As an introduction to the visual presentation of data and the creative process, it’s a useful classroom adjunct. End papers include chart definitions and examples. Ages 4–8.

April 15, 2021
A young chart enthusiast finds one that tests her abilities. Uma loves charts. She tabulates her family's favorite pizza toppings (using a pie chart, of course); she examines which couples hold hands most often in the park (dogs are the outliers, because they don't have hands); and she carefully creates her own food pyramid (with chicken fingers at the base). As Uma says: "A good chart should make you see the world in a new way." When her teacher announces that the students' next assignment is to make charts of their homes, Uma is ecstatic. But then, she gets nervous. "How can I chart something so big, so important, so complicated?!" She is stumped. She narrows her research down to one essential question: "What makes my house...housey?" Her family members offer many possibilities. But their thoughts only overwhelm Uma even more. How can she possibly make a chart that shows feelings and smells and sounds? Uma, master chart maker, must find a way. Uma's hand-drawn charts of all kinds are scattered throughout, and various pictorial guides are explained on the endpapers. Readers will delight in looking closely and learning more about Uma's quirky hobby. Uma's family of six share the same light tan skin tone while her class (and male teacher of color) is racially diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at 22.5% of actual size.) Not quite off the charts but offbeat enough for a lot of fun. (Picture book. 4-8)

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April 15, 2021
Grades K-3 With her overalls' front pocket stuffed with a calculator and pencils, and red glasses resting on her white, freckled cheeks, Uma Wimple is ready to do what she loves, make charts--pie charts, bar graphs, maps, Venn diagrams, and more. The endpapers provide the names and crisp representations of popular chart forms, while childlike illustrations depict those made by Uma. When her brown-skinned teacher, Mr. Easley, assigns her class a big project--to chart their homes--Uma should be thrilled. But oh the pressure! To help tackle the project, she studies house shapes, patterns, and landscapes, making new charts in the process, but nothing feels right. Next, she takes a survey, asking her father (who's busy making dinner), her mother (who's working in a home office), and each of her very different brothers, "What makes a house housey?" In the end, Uma's innovative chart of her home is far from the common floor-plan response to this often-assigned project. A creative discussion of charts and their purpose that remembers to keep enjoyment as a key component.

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