A sweet story about connectedness and a willingness to believe in these modern times.
It’s a mom-and-son trip to the zoo, but mom’s preoccupation with her cellphone makes for a lonely time until being present becomes a priority—and then magic occurs.
It all begins with the titular question: “Can one balloon make an elephant fly?” Mom, never looking up from her phone, answers in the negative. Her son continues his line of questioning, with unchanging results. Dejected, he sadly slumps down. When his mother finally looks up, she understands and fully engages. Together as they walk, they tie balloons to test his theories, hers to animal miniatures, his to live animals. When they reach the path’s end, she releases the toys and offers a celebratory hug, while the live animals also slowly rise across the city. Simple, stylized charcoal illustrations are deftly executed, and Newman cleverly uses repetition to highlight the characters’ emotional journeys. The oft-used map of the zoo shows the black mother and son on various stages of the path in expressive poses. Unfortunately, narrative clarity is sometimes hampered due to the stylization of the drawings. There’s also more of a grittiness or heaviness to the drawings than in Newman's previous works. Those quibbles aside, this is one of the first books to so accurately portray what parental cellphone use may look like to a child and how it can affect parent/child relationships.
A sweet story about connectedness and a willingness to believe in these modern times. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4424-5215-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.
In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.
Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780063387843
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Serve this superbly designed title to all who relish slightly scary stories.
Kids know vegetables can be scary, but rarely are edible roots out to get someone. In this whimsical mock-horror tale, carrots nearly frighten the whiskers off Jasper Rabbit, an interloper at Crackenhopper Field.
Jasper loves carrots, especially those “free for the taking.” He pulls some in the morning, yanks out a few in the afternoon, and comes again at night to rip out more. Reynolds builds delicious suspense with succinct language that allows understatements to be fully exploited in Brown’s hilarious illustrations. The cartoon pictures, executed in pencil and then digitally colored, are in various shades of gray and serve as a perfectly gloomy backdrop for the vegetables’ eerie orange on each page. “Jasper couldn’t get enough carrots … / … until they started following him.” The plot intensifies as Jasper not only begins to hear the veggies nearby, but also begins to see them everywhere. Initially, young readers will wonder if this is all a product of Jasper’s imagination. Was it a few snarling carrots or just some bathing items peeking out from behind the shower curtain? The ending truly satisfies both readers and the book’s characters alike. And a lesson on greed goes down like honey instead of a forkful of spinach.
Serve this superbly designed title to all who relish slightly scary stories. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 21, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0297-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 1, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
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