Florence’s purpose is clear: “Good food can save the day!” A worthy message, drawn perfectly by Frazier, whose illustrations...
Florence and Frazier are back (Tyler Makes Pancakes!, 2012), this time with dinner as young Tyler learns about spaghetti—how to cook it and where its ingredients come from—in this masterfully illustrated story.
When Chef Lorenzo asks Tyler for help making spaghetti and meatballs, the burgeoning cook can’t wait to begin. Together they take an imaginary adventure to pick tomatoes from the vine, unearth onions, visit olive groves and witness the pressing process. Even cheese-making, from cow to curds and curing, is seen. But the author conveniently evades any explanation of the origin of the meatballs, which are presented pre-made. Ingredients assembled, the industrious Tyler creates a delicious dinner for his family, with each step of the cooking process described. Sadly, the text is labored, despite the author’s best intentions of connecting readers to food, land, and the people that create and care for both. However, Frazier’s strong pictorial narrative carries the day. As always, he exhibits exemplary skill at creating deceivingly simple illustrations with his exceptional ability to edit. The characters, often appearing as stick figures, are incredibly expressive, and the silhouettes offer both depth and insights into the text.
Florence’s purpose is clear: “Good food can save the day!” A worthy message, drawn perfectly by Frazier, whose illustrations could work without the words. (recipe, additional information) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: May 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-204756-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
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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