Susie Wilde (Children's Literature)
This book, the Caldecott Award winner for the year's finest illustrations, is a story of tolerance placed in the violent setting of the LA riots. The illustrations are collages that add intrigue and extend the story. Shattered glass surrounds a picture of looting; spilled multi-colored cereal accents items spilled from grocery store thieving; and plastic bags describe the senseless stealing from a dry cleaner. The young hero is confused by the chaos and frightened by fire, smashed glass, and his missing cat. His protective mother calmly explains every part of the night's madness. But it is the boy who is the agent of change when he notices how his cat has made friends with another cat; an enemy cat belonging to the Korean woman who owns the grocery down the street. The Korean woman, who had always seemed different and separate becomes a friend in the shelter during the smoky night. This book would be incredibly helpful for children who have shared the protagonist's experience. It is a meaningful book to help talk about the violence that surrounds today's children. Diaz helps to convey the strong message by placing dramatic insets in his powerful collages. 1994, Harcourt Brace, $15.00. Ages 6 up.

CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices, 1994)
A young African-American child describes a night of fear when rioting occurs in his city neighborhood. "Rioting can happen when people get angry," his mother explains to him. "They want to smash and destroy. They don't care anymore what's right and what's wrong." In the middle of the night, a fire forces the boy and his mother to flee their apartment building and take refuge in a shelter, where African-American, Korean-American and Latino neighbors, some of whom are strangers to one another, have gathered in the confusion. Tensions between African-American and Korean-American residents of the neighborhood are specifically addressed. The child's anxiety is soothed but not extinguished by his mother's deliberate calm for the sake of her child, and these are the most powerful elements of the text. David Diaz' explosive artwork is a powerful complement - he sets his intense paintings against a multi-media backdrop that is suggested by elements of the text and created with items culled from everyday life. CCBC categories: Issues In Today's World; Picture Books. 1994, Harcourt Brace, 36 pages, $14.95. Ages 6-10.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, 1994)
A noted author (Fly Away Home, 1991) brings all her empathy and creative skill to another timely topic: an inner-city riot. Standing well back from their window, Daniel and his mama watch looters steal TVs and break into Kim's market. When it quiets down the two fall asleep, only to be roused: their building is burning, so they escape, through ravaged streets, to a shelter. Though Bunting offers no reasons for the violence, she succinctly describes the mob's psychology. Mama explains, "...people get angry. They want to smash and destroy. They don't care anymore what's right...After a while it's like a game," while Daniel observes, "They look angry. But they look happy, too." The story is rounded out with a touch of reconciliation: Mama has't patronized Kim's market ("...it's better if we buy from our own people") but, after Daniel's cat and Mrs. Kims' make friends at the shelter, the people realize that they, too, could be friendly. Diaz's art -- rough-edged acrylic paintings mounted on collages of paper, burnt matches, and materials that might be found blowing on a California street -- is extraordinarily powerful. Defined in heavy black, the expressionistically rendered faces are intense with smoky shades and dark, neon-lit color. An outstandingly handsome book that represents its subject realistically while underplaying the worst of its horrors; an excellent vehicle for discussion. 1994, Harcourt Brace, $13.95. Starred Review. © 1994 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Betsy Hearne (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, March 1994 (Vol. 47, No. 7))
Eve Bunting has a good track record for vitalizing what would be docudrama in the hands of a lesser storyteller. Here the scenario is an inner-city riot that young Daniel and his mother and his yellow cat Jasmine watch from their apartment window. "It can happen when people get angry," explains Mama. "They want to smash and destroy. They don't care anymore what's right and what's wrong." Among the stores looted is Mrs. Kim's market, and when Daniel's building catches fire in the middle of the night, both he and Mrs. Kim end up in the local church shelter, worrying about whether their cats-archenemies in the past-have escaped the blaze. It's the authentic child's perspective that makes the tale so touching. What impresses Daniel in the midst of an adult-size crisis are the kind of details that adults wouldn't notice ("I've never seen a bigger jar of mayo," he observes in the shelter) or wouldn't be honest about ("Mrs. Kim takes her big, fat, mean old orange cat and holds him close"). It's these very observations that lead Daniel to a truth about what caused the riot to begin with. Diaz has not been afraid to take risks in illustrating the story with thickly textured paintings against a background of torn-paper and found-object collage; the heavy outlines are a bit reminiscent of John Steptoe's early work. Without becoming cluttered or gimmicky, these pictures manage to capture a calamitous atmosphere that finally calms. His choice of a stylized medium to express a frighteningly realistic situation will allow young listeners to get the emotional impact without becoming overpowered by it-just as the first-person narrative succeeds in doing a lot by not trying to do too much. In fact, both author and artist have managed to portray a politically charged event without pretension or preaching. R*--Highly recommended as a book of special distinction. (c) Copyright 1994, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 1994, Harcourt, 34p, $14.95. Grades K-3.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, 1994)
When the smell of smoke wakens Daniel and his mother during the night, they flee from the rioting outside their apartment to a shelter. Inspired by an innocent comment from Daniel, his mother introduces herself to a neighbor; the African-American woman's attempt to reach out to the Korean-American woman is a clear result of surviving the riots together. The bold artwork is a perfect match for the intensity of the story. Category: Fiction. 1994, Harcourt, 34pp.. Ages 5 to 9. Rating: 1: Outstanding, noteworthy in style, content, and/or illustration.