Here’s hoping Peter’s next outing (Peter and the Seal, 2012) will be better executed and edited.
This misleadingly titled Dutch import mixes a mediocre storyline with some inconsistent tongue-in-cheek visual humor.
Peter is at first thrilled when snow falls around the lighthouse where he lives with his grandmother and dog, Leo. He spends the day crafting some pretty humorous anatomically correct snow figures. But toward evening, the snow picks up again and shows no sign of letting up, so Grandma brings in the goat and chicken. The next day, with the snow a wall outside the door, the titular “winter sleepers” start arriving for shelter: a rabbit, an owl, hedgehogs, a bat and other critters. They are more guests than the hibernators the title suggests; Peter only wishes these new animals all slept at night. After several chaotic days of picking up after them, the arrival of a final guest, a fox, sends Peter into a panic when Gull goes missing. All turns out for the best, though, and slowly but surely the winter sleepers return to nature, leaving only the fox in Leo’s dog bed. Unfortunately, uneven pacing is not the text’s worst flaw—Peter’s name reverts to the original, Dutch “Elmo” on a center page, leaving readers puzzled and breaking the flow of the story. The hints of humor found in de Haas’ vigorous watercolors might have the power to overcome the text’s weaknesses, but they are not consistent, starting strong but petering out toward the end.
Here’s hoping Peter’s next outing (Peter and the Seal, 2012) will be better executed and edited. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7358-4033-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: NorthSouth
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions.
Ellis, known for her illustrations for Colin Meloy’s Wildwood series, here riffs on the concept of “home.”
Shifting among homes mundane and speculative, contemporary and not, Ellis begins and ends with views of her own home and a peek into her studio. She highlights palaces and mansions, but she also takes readers to animal homes and a certain famously folkloric shoe (whose iconic Old Woman manages a passel of multiethnic kids absorbed in daring games). One spread showcases “some folks” who “live on the road”; a band unloads its tour bus in front of a theater marquee. Ellis’ compelling ink and gouache paintings, in a palette of blue-grays, sepia and brick red, depict scenes ranging from mythical, underwater Atlantis to a distant moonscape. Another spread, depicting a garden and large building under connected, transparent domes, invites readers to wonder: “Who in the world lives here? / And why?” (Earth is seen as a distant blue marble.) Some of Ellis’ chosen depictions, oddly juxtaposed and stripped of any historical or cultural context due to the stylized design and spare text, become stereotypical. “Some homes are boats. / Some homes are wigwams.” A sailing ship’s crew seems poised to land near a trio of men clad in breechcloths—otherwise unidentified and unremarked upon.
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6529-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
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