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I AM THE STORM

Name: I AM THE STORM
Author: Jane Yolen
ISBN: 978-0-593-22275-1

by Jane Yolen & Heidi E.Y. Stemple ; illustrated by Kristen Howdeshell & Kevin Howdeshell ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 27, 2020

Child-centered, reassuring, and welcome.

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Storms can be frightening, but they can also create memorable family times.

Four children describe how they experienced a tornado, a blizzard, a wildfire, and a hurricane with comforting family members. Words and pictures work together to show joyful moments in what might be scary times. The children come from different parts of the country and may have different family structures, but their grown-ups are thoughtful and supportive. During a tornado, a brown-skinned family reads and plays games in the basement with their grandmother. An Asian-American family cooks on a campfire in the fireplace during a blizzard. White children camp with their dad in a field of wildflowers as a fire ranges beyond the mountains across a river. And Black children escape to their cousins’ house and pretend to be in boats during a hurricane. Flashlights are evident. After each storm, a different pleasant activity is recounted—maybe even dancing. “It’s okay to be scared,” one narrator tells readers. “Nature is strong and powerful. / But, I am strong and powerful, too,” adds another. This comforting title is part of a new line of picture books explicitly aimed at helping children feel capable and supported, and it does so perfectly. The repetitive storytelling shows that some things can be predictable amid the unpredictable. Aftermatter adds a paragraph of further information about each of the four storms. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 85.5% of actual size.)

Child-centered, reassuring, and welcome. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: Oct. 27, 2020

ISBN: 978-0-593-22275-1

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Rise x Penguin Workshop

Review Posted Online: July 27, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

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REBECCA'S PRAYER FOR PRESIDENT LINCOLN
by Jane Yolen ; illustrated by Laura Barella

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THE MANY PROBLEMS OF ROCHEL-LEAH
by Jane Yolen ; illustrated by Felishia Henditirto

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TOO MANY GOLEMS
by Jane Yolen ; illustrated by Maya Shleifer

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CARPENTER'S HELPER

by Sybil Rosen ; illustrated by Camille Garoche ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.

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A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.

Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: March 16, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random

Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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GOOD NIGHT THOUGHTS

by Max Greenfield ; illustrated by James Serafino ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 3, 2024

Relatable guidance for nocturnal worriers.

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Actor and author Greenfield’s latest picture book follows a child kept awake by anxieties.

The pajama-clad narrator huddles in bed among the blue shadows of a bedroom at night. “Every time I close my eyes, I’m afraid of all the scary stuff I see.” Bright, candy-hued clouds of cartoon images surround the child, lively, disruptive depictions of the what-ifs and exaggerated disasters that crowd out sleep: war (we see the world pop “into a piece of popcorn”), kidnapping (pirates carry away the child’s teddy bear), falling “up” into the sun, tarantulas in the toilet, and a menacing-looking dentist. These outsize insomnia inducers may help readers put their own unvoiced concerns into perspective; after all, what frightens one person might seem silly but understandable to another. Our narrator tries to replace the unsettling thoughts with happy ones—hugging a baby panda, being serenaded by a choir of doughnuts, and “all the people who love me holding hands and wearing every piece of clothing that they own.” But sleep is still elusive. Finally, remembering that there’s a difference between reality and an overactive imagination, the child relaxes a bit: “Right now, everything is okay. And so am I.” Reassuring, though not exactly sedate, this tale will spark daytime discussions about how difficult it can be to quiet unsettling thoughts. The child has dark hair and blue-tinged skin, reflecting the darkness of the bedroom.

Relatable guidance for nocturnal worriers. (Picture book. 4-7)