With sharp shapes and a riot of color, the prolific Gomi’s simple premise should spark young imaginations.
The world’s diversity is depicted in a series of colorful, geometrical pictures.
The bottom third of each double-page spread shows the same serene blue ocean and a little long-haired child in red overalls staring out at it, facing away from readers. Three white gulls fly overhead as the child wonders, “What is over the ocean?” On progressive pages the child imagines the multiple answers to that question: scores of ships filling the water, big farms and tall city buildings (both in rainbow colors), playfully leaping animals, a town of tightly packed little houses, the faces of children of many races and ethnicities, and then those children frolicking on a variety of fair attractions. “Is there night over the ocean?” the child muses, as the dark sky over the water fills with stars in curlicue patterns. The narrator then imagines a night-lit city made entirely of ice, a beach on the opposite side of the ocean that mirrors the one readers see, then a parallel someone standing next to a rainbow and also staring at the ocean…or staring back at the narrator? In the final picture, the child still stares at the ocean while a second, almost identical child (clad in green overalls) sails high into the sky inside the basket of a big striped balloon. The narrating child never moves, but the image is saved from stasis by both the changing view and the child’s long, wind-swept dark hair blowing to the side.
With sharp shapes and a riot of color, the prolific Gomi’s simple premise should spark young imaginations. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 17, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4521-4515-0
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
A disappointing follow-up.
Inventor Izzy Gizmo is back in this sequel to her eponymous debut (2017).
While busily inventing one day, Izzy receives an invitation from the Genius Guild to their annual convention. Though Izzy’s “inventions…don’t always work,” Grandpa (apparently her sole caregiver) encourages her to go. The next day they undertake a long journey “over fields, hills, and waves” and “mile after mile” to isolated Technoff Isle. There, Izzy finds she must compete against four other kids to create the most impressive machine. The colorful, detail-rich illustrations chronicle how poor Izzy is thwarted at every turn by Abi von Lavish, a Veruca Salt–esque character who takes all the supplies for herself. But when Abi abandons her project, Izzy salvages the pieces and decides to take Grandpa’s advice to create a machine that “can really be put to good use.” A frustrated Izzy’s impatience with a friend almost foils her chance at the prize, but all’s well that ends well. There’s much to like: Brown-skinned inventor girl Izzy is an appealing character, it’s great to see a nurturing brown-skinned male caregiver, the idea of an “Invention Convention” is fun, and a sustainable-energy invention is laudable. However, these elements don’t make up for rhymes that often feel forced and a lackluster story.
A disappointing follow-up. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-68263-164-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020
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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