It Began with Lemonade

Starred review from March 22, 2021
Sterer (The Midnight Fair) writes a make-lemonade story with a twist. A tan-skinned child sporting black braids, a blue-and-white dress, and a resolute expression readies a lemonade stand on a hot summer day. “I chopped and measured, squeezed and stirred... until I had something delicious.” The child’s caretaker, bearded and stocky, builds a wheeled stand to take out onto their city block. But in a visually funny turn, the city sidewalk is already crammed with other stands, and the protagonist, disheartened, wanders farther. Suddenly, the stand rolls toward a river, leaving a trail behind it like an out-of-control lawn mower, until it lands on a riverbank, where “something thirsty” arrives via the waterway. Soon, child and stand cater to a growing menagerie of parched creatures. “As I looked out from that riverbank,” the child narrates, “it felt just like a dream.” The unexpected developments feel dreamy, too, as Cho’s (The Oboe Goes Boom Boom Boom) sprightly art, filled with invention and wit, give still more charm to a story about doing one’s best with what one’s given, and of transitioning from city to wilderness. Ages 4–8.

May 1, 2021
A young entrepreneur is ready to sell homemade lemonade, but everyone else has already staked out the best spots. The nameless narrator rolls a colorful stand through the diverse city neighborhood and just keeps on going until reaching the countryside. Pushing it up a hill, the kid loses control, and the tall stand with the lemon on top goes careening through the woods until it finally stops near a river. Unexpectedly, a customer arrives! The kid serves up, and then a steady stream of customers float by: an octopus, two alligators, a sea monster, a diver in an old-fashioned helmet, and more. The kid needs to make more lemonade on the spot. After selling out and trudging home, the kid sleeps through the night dreaming about a future riverside lemonade empire. Careful readers will spot many reminders of the adventure in the kid's bedroom. A toy octopus's tentacles overflow from a chest, a diver's helmet sits on the floor, pictures of sea animals and boats adorn the walls. The lines between reality and fantasy blur...but the tip jar is full. Bright cartoon illustrations are full of funny details (the lemonade-stand sign smiles and frowns expressively), and the alliterative text begs to be read aloud: "I sat for a long while, feeling terrible as a turnip," the kid grumps at one point. The narrator has textured black hair and a ruddy complexion. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Encouragement for moguls-to-be and fun for everyone else. (Picture book. 5-7)

COPYRIGHT(2021) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.