Apr 20 2017

“Those Shoes” do you want them or need them?

The book “Those Shoes” spectacularly portrays the modern day pressure of the need to fit in, on a child and then shows how he finds his way and goes beyond to a place of kindness and generosity toward another.

“Those Shoes” written by “ Maribeth Bolelts” and illustrated by “Noah Z. Jones” is about a boy who wants the latest trend of shoes but his grandmother cannot afford the retail price. They find a pair in a thrift store that’s a size too small, yet the boy buys them anyways and never wears them from the pain.

Read this book to find out what he does in the end that makes him happy about not having “Those Shoes” any longer.

Noah Z. Jones’s illustrations, created with watercolor, pencil and ink and put together digitally, perfectly depict how quickly a fad can flood the halls of a school, and how desperately children want to be able to have what others take for granted.

This picture book provides fodder for initiating conversations about fitting in, trends, and the difference in needs and wants.

 

Gopa Trivedi

Artist Mentor