A well-illustrated work with a message that will appeal to a young audience.
Two parents comfort sleepless children with a promise that love is present all around them in this picture book.
When it’s bedtime for a boy and a girl, they don’t want Mom and Dad to leave. The parents assure them that their love is always with them, wherever they are: It’s represented by the moon shining extra bright, the dog padding into their room while they’re asleep, a cardinal perching in a tree, the seeds of a dandelion, and the redness of the sunset. In a twist, illustrator Timm briefly depicts both children as adults as Mom and Dad note that their love will stay with them—as the cool breeze during a race, a favorite tune while driving, or a rainbow on a bad day. Loveless’ meditative rhymes only rarely miss a beat, and their overall message of comfort makes this book a good bedtime read-aloud. At the end, for example, the parents say to the drowsy children, “A gleeful moment, a happy thought. / A flower in a random spot. / ...We hope these things / help remind you of, / our endless, forever, / never-aging love.” Timm’s watercolor and mixed-media illustrations, featuring a family of mixed heritage, are beautifully textured with vivid scenes of nature.
A well-illustrated work with a message that will appeal to a young audience.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-0-578-76561-7
Page Count: 33
Publisher: Loveless Letters
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on...
Continuing from their acclaimed Those Shoes (2007), Boelts and Jones entwine conversations on money, motives, and morality.
This second collaboration between author and illustrator is set within an urban multicultural streetscape, where brown-skinned protagonist Ruben wishes for a bike like his friend Sergio’s. He wishes, but Ruben knows too well the pressure his family feels to prioritize the essentials. While Sergio buys a pack of football cards from Sonny’s Grocery, Ruben must buy the bread his mom wants. A familiar lady drops what Ruben believes to be a $1 bill, but picking it up, to his shock, he discovers $100! Is this Ruben’s chance to get himself the bike of his dreams? In a fateful twist, Ruben loses track of the C-note and is sent into a panic. After finally finding it nestled deep in a backpack pocket, he comes to a sense of moral clarity: “I remember how it was for me when that money that was hers—then mine—was gone.” When he returns the bill to her, the lady offers Ruben her blessing, leaving him with double-dipped emotions, “happy and mixed up, full and empty.” Readers will be pleased that there’s no reward for Ruben’s choice of integrity beyond the priceless love and warmth of a family’s care and pride.
Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on children. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6649-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
A good bet for the youngest bird-watchers.
Echoing the meter of “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” Ward uses catchy original rhymes to describe the variety of nests birds create.
Each sweet stanza is complemented by a factual, engaging description of the nesting habits of each bird. Some of the notes are intriguing, such as the fact that the hummingbird uses flexible spider web to construct its cup-shaped nest so the nest will stretch as the chicks grow. An especially endearing nesting behavior is that of the emperor penguin, who, with unbelievable patience, incubates the egg between his tummy and his feet for up to 60 days. The author clearly feels a mission to impart her extensive knowledge of birds and bird behavior to the very young, and she’s found an appealing and attractive way to accomplish this. The simple rhymes on the left page of each spread, written from the young bird’s perspective, will appeal to younger children, and the notes on the right-hand page of each spread provide more complex factual information that will help parents answer further questions and satisfy the curiosity of older children. Jenkins’ accomplished collage illustrations of common bird species—woodpecker, hummingbird, cowbird, emperor penguin, eagle, owl, wren—as well as exotics, such as flamingoes and hornbills, are characteristically naturalistic and accurate in detail.
A good bet for the youngest bird-watchers. (author’s note, further resources) (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 18, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4424-2116-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2014
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