This allegory about the actions of individuals making a difference and the importance of hope is relayed in beautiful...
The natural world’s enriching effect, the tragedy of its fragile state, and the need for both action and hope are portrayed allegorically in this picture book imported from Canada.
Lucy, a little girl depicted with skin the white of the paper, loves nature. Papineau’s narrative glistens in its lyrical descriptions of Lucy’s activities as she participates in “the dance of the seasons,” and illustrator Hamel’s sprightly illustrations, full of translucent swirls of line and pattern, echo this dance. But then Earth becomes diseased, and Hamel’s illustrations display harsh black lines and darker colors. Angularity and darkness continue, both illustratively and narratively, as Lucy “give[s] up on the Earth.” When her tears fall into the brook (after a dragonfly friend brushes them off Lucy’s cheeks with her wings), her message of sadness spreads across the world and reaches Tama, a brown-skinned boy with textured, black hair, who knows “how to listen to…the songs of the brook.” Tama spreads the word, and people all over begin to want to “cure this child” by healing the planet. It’s unfortunate that Lucy is shown as white since it conveys the assumption that the happiness of white people is of paramount importance and it’s the job of brown people to see to it.
This allegory about the actions of individuals making a difference and the importance of hope is relayed in beautiful language and delicate illustrations—and a subtle white bias. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 3, 2018
ISBN: 978-2-7338-5620-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Auzou Publishing
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
These reindeer games are a bit tired but, given the series’ popularity, should have a large, ready-made audience.
The How to Catch A… crew try for Comet.
Having already failed to nab a Halloween witch, the Easter Bunny, a turkey, a leprechaun, the Tooth Fairy, and over a dozen other iconic trophies in previous episodes of this bestselling series, one would think the racially diverse gaggle of children in Elkerton’s moonlit, wintry scenes would be flagging…but no, here they lay out snares ranging from a loop of garland to an igloo baited with reindeer moss to an enticing candy cane maze, all in hopes of snagging one of Santa’s reindeer while he’s busy delivering presents. Infused with pop culture–based Christmas cheer (“Now I’ve already seen the shelf with the elf”), Comet prances past the traps until it’s time to gather up the kids, most of whom look terrified, for a group snapshot with the other reindeer and then climb back into harness: “This was a great stop but a few million to go / Christmas Eve must continue with style!” Though festive, the verse feels trite and unlikely to entice youngsters. A sprinkling of “True Facts About Reindeer” (“They live in the tundra, where they have friends like the arctic bunny”) wrap up this celebration of the predatory spirit. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
These reindeer games are a bit tired but, given the series’ popularity, should have a large, ready-made audience. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2022
ISBN: 9781728276137
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A brisk if bland offering for series fans, but cleverer metafictive romps abound.
The titular cookie runs off the page at a bookstore storytime, pursued by young listeners and literary characters.
Following on 13 previous How To Catch… escapades, Wallace supplies sometimes-tortured doggerel and Elkerton, a set of helter-skelter cartoon scenes. Here the insouciant narrator scampers through aisles, avoiding a series of elaborate snares set by the racially diverse young storytime audience with help from some classic figures: “Alice and her mad-hat friends, / as a gift for my unbirthday, / helped guide me through the walls of shelves— / now I’m bound to find my way.” The literary helpers don’t look like their conventional or Disney counterparts in the illustrations, but all are clearly identified by at least a broad hint or visual cue, like the unnamed “wizard” who swoops in on a broom to knock over a tower labeled “Frogwarts.” Along with playing a bit fast and loose with details (“Perhaps the boy with the magic beans / saved me with his cow…”) the author discards his original’s lip-smacking climax to have the errant snack circling back at last to his book for a comfier sort of happily-ever-after.
A brisk if bland offering for series fans, but cleverer metafictive romps abound. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-7282-0935-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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