Cover Image: Viva's Voice

Viva's Voice

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Member Reviews

This book was music to my soul. Its bright illustrations perfectly encapsulate the character of Viva, an uplifting little girl whose understanding of her father brings her to the front lines of a protest. This picture book is quick and informative, yet packed with a whole lot of heart and love between father and daughter. I can't wait to purchase this for my classroom library!

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A sweet and heartwarming story to empower little ones! I started out really loving this one, but I wish there was a bit more to the ending. Aside from that this made for a cute and quick read.

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This children's picture book tells the story of a little girl named Viva who is excited to spend her summer vacation riding the bus with her father who is a bus driver. Her plans change when the bus drivers go on strike, including her father. She asks to go to the picket lines with her father and encourages him to speak for the strikers. The messages in this story include standing up for what you believing, using your voice and labor rights. These are all messages that are important for young readers to learn, no matter what age they are. By creating a book that involves a young girl as part of this message, the author has given children an opportunity to connect with the main character and learn about a topic that may not have otherwise felt important to them. As a grade 3 teacher, I would definitely recommend this book to other teachers and could see this book fitting well in my classroom library. I think this book is appropriate for children in the age 5-11 range, and would be a perfect introduction for discussions about rights and democracy in Social Studies.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this great book!

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A cute read about the power of a voice! Viva's father is going on a strike and takes Viva along with him for the day, since it's her summer break. There, Viva has a magical experience at the picket line with her papi.

This was wholesome in many ways, and definitely a message to all the young kids out there, wanting their voices to be heard! I really liked the moral and the overall message this story has to give to the younger generations to com!

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A short charming book about courage to speak up your opinion. With generous colorful illustrations this book will easy become kid choice. The plot and theme is very good. I love how author bring real life story to share with other kids around the world. I personally interest with the spark of little culture in this book, I wish for more.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me this cute book.

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This book has everything my Latinx heart desires! The author grew up in my hometown of LA and saw Union strikes because of her dad. It’s amazing how she captured it all in such a short children’s book with gorgeous illustrations. Definitely picking this one up for my future babies.

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kind of serious topic about owning our voice but delivered with heartwarming character and cute illustrations. i like it

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I loved the overall message and theme of this book about courage and using your voice to make a difference, but the story felt lacking. It was very straightforward and did not have any emotional pull. The illustrations are beautiful though.

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This is a great story for the world we live in today. It simply explains how important it is to stand up for what is right and stand together with people who feel the same.

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The moral of this story is not being afraid to stand up for what you believe in. Viva is an excellent role model for the little ladies who read this book. Beautiful illustrations.

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This story was so endearing and empowering at the same time. I love that Viva’s powerful voice is encouraged, dampened by others. In fact, she is able to help her dad when he needs some support when he and his coworkers go on strike. The information in the back about unions is helpful. I also appreciated at the story was based off the author’s own childhood experience.

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Viva’s Papi is a bus driver who goes on strike with his union. Viva goes to work with Papi regularly, and when he goes on strike, she goes with him to the picket line. When Papi is too nervous to speak up, Viva uses her own powerful voice to give him confidence.

This was an important story about speaking up for what you believe in. It was also a bit of a crash course in strikes and worker’s rights. My 4 year old twins were a little bit confused about what a strike was, but I think they got the gist of it. They also liked the bright beautiful illustrations. I loved how at the end we learn that this story was based on the author’s own experiences growing up. The discussion questions at the end were great as well.

Thank you NetGalley and Kind World Publishing for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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Viva loves going to work with her father as he drives his bus around town. That is until the day Papi isn't going to work because he and others from his union have decided to go on strike. So Viva joins him on the picket line.

Every page features a full-colour illustration, in a bright and engaging style. The text is slotted into the less cluttered areas of the images, however, this means there is sometimes an image behind the text which can make it harder for young readers to follow.

Upon finishing this story I was left wondering about the purpose behind it. Children's stories use the narrative to share a large idea but this book doesn't make a clear point. It doesn't give enough emphasis to Viva using her voice to motivate her father or connect with the crowd, just that she has confidence. Nor does it explain the relevance of speaking up on issues that matter to you.

For the most part, the topic is aimed well at the target audience, although, infrequently, there are terms that would have benefitted from more explanation. As such, this would be best shared with children with adult input. At the end of the book, there is more information about labour unions and some possible questions to explore further.

The topic and writing style make this ideal for reading to four to eight-year-olds. From the vocabulary used and how much of it is phonetically decodable, a child would be about seven years old to read this independently or with minimal support.

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This adorable book highlights the power of speaking up and using your voice to not only enact meaningful change, but to support those you love.

I liked that the book didn't depend on the outcome of the strike to convey its message, because the reality is sometimes change does not always happen - but it is still important to speak out about injustices. I felt this book touched on that but more specifically focused on humanizing the parents and also the importance of being there for those you care about.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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This is a great book to share with kids that their voice can make a difference. It also provides a kid friendly way to introduce picket lines. The book was colorful and Viva was adorable and relatable.

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This book was a joy to read and the illustrations are delightful. I loved the message behind this story particularly highlighting that no matter your age you can have a voice and share it with the world. The questions at the end are great to get children thinking and engage them further after they have finished the story. I think this book was really interesting as it introduced politics and union strikes in an engaging way for its audience.

Viva's Voice is an own voice story and the 'dear reader' page at the end was delightful to read as it reminds children that they too can be represented in the books they read, allowing them to identify with the characters they read.

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“One voice alone is quiet. But lots of voices together can make a big noise”

The little boy I look after and I read this story together. We both loved the pictures, of how bright and colourful it is, Ryan’s favourite part was the first page because of the drawing of the ‘castle’.

The story was indulging and fun. We saw how Viva helped her Papi use his voice for the bus strikes. It helped teach Ryan how unions and strikes works and that it is very important for workers to be treated fairly. It brought up lots of questions and ‘why’s’

As we are not Spanish speakers we both didn’t understand the one sentence but that was solved with a quick google translate job, the little one loves learning about how other language speakers speak so it was fun to learn.

I asked him to rate the book on the scale of 1-5 and he shouted ‘5!!, the book was AMAZING’

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I loved the message behind this story - girls can have big voices, and they can have their say on things that matter.

I loved little Viva, she was a fabulous character.

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This is a great book about standing up for what you believe in. The illustrations are beautiful and help tell the story. I enjoyed the questions at the end.

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Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange of my honest opinion.

I didn't expect this story when I requested the book, but I found a very inspirational and surprising read that I found innovative and different.

Viva's father is on a bus driver's strike. When he takes her to this picket line, Viva's not only helps his father with his speech, but she also learns many things about unions, pickets and her community.

The fact that the story was inspired by the author's actual experience, it is even sweeter!

I love creating conscience in children from a very young age and this book is an example of just that!

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