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SHADOW CHASERS

Playful and more than just a little mysterious—like a shadow-puppet play in full color.

Intriguing illustrations draw readers into a meditation on shadows.

The text employs direct address, encouraging readers to imagine chasing shadows: “If you follow them, / and try to catch them, / they will flit and flutter away.” A trio of Caucasian children plays at dusk chasing shadows through a sunset-hued forest. The simple text employs rhythmic, sometimes-rhyming language that, like the book’s subject, never settles down and allows itself to be caught. The illustrations themselves have the look of dioramas, the cut-paper figures of the children, birds and animals set into the scenes so that they cast shadows. Whether they are photographed dioramas, entirely digital compositions or a combination of the two is hard to say, but the slightly surreal combination of two- and three-dimensionality will have children examining the pages closely. At one point, the two girls, running, cast the shadow of a deer; in another picture, an artfully arranged cluster of mushrooms casts the shadow of a squirrel. The three children have a 1950s aesthetic; their wide eyes, snub noses and tiny mouths would be at home in advertising or storybooks of the era, particularly the little sister with pigtails and pedal pushers.

Playful and more than just a little mysterious—like a shadow-puppet play in full color. (Picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: May 1, 2014

ISBN: 978-0-7624-4720-6

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Running Press Kids

Review Posted Online: April 15, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2014

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CINDERELLA

From the Once Upon a World series

A nice but not requisite purchase.

A retelling of the classic fairy tale in board-book format and with a Mexican setting.

Though simplified for a younger audience, the text still relates the well-known tale: mean-spirited stepmother, spoiled stepsisters, overworked Cinderella, fairy godmother, glass slipper, charming prince, and, of course, happily-ever-after. What gives this book its flavor is the artwork. Within its Mexican setting, the characters are olive-skinned and dark-haired. Cultural references abound, as when a messenger comes carrying a banner announcing a “FIESTA” in beautiful papel picado. Cinderella is the picture of beauty, with her hair up in ribbons and flowers and her typically Mexican many-layered white dress. The companion volume, Snow White, set in Japan and illustrated by Misa Saburi, follows the same format. The simplified text tells the story of the beautiful princess sent to the forest by her wicked stepmother to be “done away with,” the dwarves that take her in, and, eventually, the happily-ever-after ending. Here too, what gives the book its flavor is the artwork. The characters wear traditional clothing, and the dwarves’ house has the requisite shoji screens, tatami mats and cherry blossoms in the garden. The puzzling question is, why the board-book presentation? Though the text is simplified, it’s still beyond the board-book audience, and the illustrations deserve full-size books.

A nice but not requisite purchase. (Board book/fairy tale. 3-5)

Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-4814-7915-8

Page Count: 24

Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017

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I'LL LOVE YOU FOREVER

Parent-child love and affection, appealingly presented, with the added attraction of the seasonal content and lack of gender...

A polar-bear parent speaks poetically of love for a child.

A genderless adult and cub travel through the landscapes of an arctic year. Each of the softly rendered double-page paintings has a very different feel and color palette as the pair go through the seasons, walking through wintry ice and snow and green summer meadows, cavorting in the blue ocean, watching whales, and playing beside musk oxen. The rhymes of the four-line stanzas are not forced, as is the case too often in picture books of this type: “When cold, winter winds / blow the leaves far and wide, / You’ll cross the great icebergs / with me by your side.” On a dark, snowy night, the loving parent says: “But for now, cuddle close / while the stars softly shine. // I’ll always be yours, / and you’ll always be mine.” As the last illustration shows the pair curled up for sleep, young listeners will be lulled to sweet dreams by the calm tenor of the pictures and the words. While far from original, this timeless theme is always in demand, and the combination of delightful illustrations and poetry that scans well make this a good choice for early-childhood classrooms, public libraries, and one-on-one home read-alouds.

Parent-child love and affection, appealingly presented, with the added attraction of the seasonal content and lack of gender restrictions. (Picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-68010-070-9

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Tiger Tales

Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017

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