A warmhearted conversation starter of a book.
A story about bullying and overcoming it.
Corey, a bipedal, anthropomorphic rabbit, wears an orange cape to school every day in this Dutch/Flemish import. While all of the other kids stare at Corey, a bullying bulldog named Billy goes a step further, actually taking Corey’s cape every day and not giving it back. Corey puts on a new orange cape each day. The narration describes the other children at school as bystanders who notice the bullying but don’t intercede. Then, “one boy got curious.” The illustrations depict this child as a raccoon who sits next to Corey and asks him why he wears an orange cape each day. Corey explains that orange is his sick mother’s favorite color, and he wears the cape as a sign of support for her. This revelation creates a turning point in the story. The curious boy wears a striped cape to school, and word spreads until all of the others wear capes, too. Eventually only Billy goes capeless—until Corey gifts him one of his spare orange capes. This act of kindness prompts Billy to apologize, concluding the book on a note of forgiveness and reconciliation. (What’s happened to all the capes Billy’s stolen goes unaddressed.) The rather staid, pastel-hued watercolor illustrations depict the characters as human-shaped creatures with fairly realistic-looking animal heads. Compositions are stable, even unexciting, but that lends an air of matter-of-factness to the surreal images on display. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10.2-by-19.6-inch double-page spreads viewed at 28.9% of actual size.)
A warmhearted conversation starter of a book. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-60537-599-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clavis
Review Posted Online: Dec. 24, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with...
Reynolds and Brown have crafted a Halloween tale that balances a really spooky premise with the hilarity that accompanies any mention of underwear.
Jasper Rabbit needs new underwear. Plain White satisfies him until he spies them: “Creepy underwear! So creepy! So comfy! They were glorious.” The underwear of his dreams is a pair of radioactive-green briefs with a Frankenstein face on the front, the green color standing out all the more due to Brown’s choice to do the entire book in grayscale save for the underwear’s glowing green…and glow they do, as Jasper soon discovers. Despite his “I’m a big rabbit” assertion, that glow creeps him out, so he stuffs them in the hamper and dons Plain White. In the morning, though, he’s wearing green! He goes to increasing lengths to get rid of the glowing menace, but they don’t stay gone. It’s only when Jasper finally admits to himself that maybe he’s not such a big rabbit after all that he thinks of a clever solution to his fear of the dark. Brown’s illustrations keep the backgrounds and details simple so readers focus on Jasper’s every emotion, writ large on his expressive face. And careful observers will note that the underwear’s expression also changes, adding a bit more creep to the tale.
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with Dr. Seuss’ tale of animate, empty pants. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 22, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0298-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
While the blend of folklore, fantasy and realism is certainly far-fetched, Imani, with her winning personality, is a child...
Imani endures the insults heaped upon her by the other village children, but she never gives up her dreams.
The Masai girl is tiny compared to the other children, but she is full of imagination and perseverance. Luckily, she has a mother who believes in her and tells her stories that will fuel that imagination. Mama tells her about the moon goddess, Olapa, who wins over the sun god. She tells Imani about Anansi, the trickster spider who vanquishes a larger snake. (Troublingly, the fact that Anansi is a West African figure, not of the Masai, goes unaddressed in both text and author’s note.) Inspired, the tiny girl tries to find new ways to achieve her dream: to touch the moon. One day, after crashing to the ground yet again when her leafy wings fail, she is ready to forget her hopes. That night, she witnesses the adumu, the special warriors’ jumping dance. Imani wakes the next morning, determined to jump to the moon. After jumping all day, she reaches the moon, meets Olapa and receives a special present from the goddess, a small moon rock. Now she becomes the storyteller when she relates her adventure to Mama. The watercolor-and-graphite illustrations have been enhanced digitally, and the night scenes of storytelling and fantasy with their glowing stars and moons have a more powerful impact than the daytime scenes, with their blander colors.
While the blend of folklore, fantasy and realism is certainly far-fetched, Imani, with her winning personality, is a child to be admired. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-934133-57-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Mackinac Island Press
Review Posted Online: July 28, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2014
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