by Alison McGhee ; illustrated by Peter Reynolds ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 30, 2014
An understated, appealing story with fine integration between the succinct text and imaginative illustrations.
This charming addition to the gifts-for-baby-Jesus theme imagines the origin of the bright star shining over Bethlehem at the Nativity.
In a futuristic version of heaven with connecting platforms floating in midair and computer display screens, a little female angel and her angel friends ponder the impending birth of a special baby down on Earth. The youngest angel wears a white suit with a long, white coat complementing her feathery wings and a white aviator’s cap, googles and scarf that give her the look of an early airplane pilot. She wishes she could give something special to the new baby that would be as comforting as wind, rain or music. When the angel notices that the world below her seems dark and lonely, she decides to remedy that as her gift. She soars off a huge diving board, floating down into the dark sky previously lit by only tiny stars, and transforms into an enormous star that illuminates the entire sky and guides the three Wise Men. The story is told with a light touch and few words, and the charismatic little angel’s transformation is a positive development rather than any type of loss. Evocative watercolor illustrations range from imaginative views of heaven with swirls of pink clouds to mysterious, deep purple skies over Bethlehem. Though the protagonist angel is Caucasian, there are darker-skinned angels among the heavenly host.
An understated, appealing story with fine integration between the succinct text and imaginative illustrations. (Picture book/religion. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4169-5858-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
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by Dev Petty ; illustrated by Lauren Eldridge ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 20, 2017
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted...
Reinvention is the name of the game for two blobs of clay.
A blue-eyed gray blob and a brown-eyed brown blob sit side by side, unsure as to what’s going to happen next. The gray anticipates an adventure, while the brown appears apprehensive. A pair of hands descends, and soon, amid a flurry of squishing and prodding and poking and sculpting, a handsome gray wolf and a stately brown owl emerge. The hands disappear, leaving the friends to their own devices. The owl is pleased, but the wolf convinces it that the best is yet to come. An ear pulled here and an extra eye placed there, and before you can shake a carving stick, a spurt of frenetic self-exploration—expressed as a tangled black scribble—reveals a succession of smug hybrid beasts. After all, the opportunity to become a “pig-e-phant” doesn’t come around every day. But the sound of approaching footsteps panics the pair of Picassos. How are they going to “fix [them]selves” on time? Soon a hippopotamus and peacock are staring bug-eyed at a returning pair of astonished hands. The creative naiveté of the “clay mates” is perfectly captured by Petty’s feisty, spot-on dialogue: “This was your idea…and it was a BAD one.” Eldridge’s endearing sculpted images are photographed against the stark white background of an artist’s work table to great effect.
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted fun of their own . (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-30311-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
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by Dev Petty ; illustrated by Mike Boldt
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by Alexandra Penfold ; illustrated by Suzanne Kaufman ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 2, 2021
The story’s slight but allows kids to practice identifying and dealing with their own big feelings.
The diverse group of kids from All Are Welcome (2018) this time gathers in a vacant lot with tools in hand to clear the debris and make something new. But therein lies the rub: What should the something new be? While the exact nature of the disagreement is unfortunately not made clear to readers, the big feelings that the children exhibit are very clear (and for readers who need practice reading facial clues, there’s a labeled chart of 15 in the frontmatter). This book’s refrain is “How can I help? / What can we do?” And the answers, spread over several pages and not spelled out in so many words but rather shown in the illustrations, are: talk it through, compromise, and see things from another perspective. As a guide for dealing with feelings and problem-solving, the book is a bit slim and lacks a solid story to hook readers. But, as with its predecessor, its strength is again the diversity on display in its pages. There’s a rainbow of skin tones and hair colors as well as abundant variation in hair texture, several children exhibit visible disabilities, including one child who uses a wheelchair, and there are markers of religious and cultural diversity. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 29.6% of actual size.)
The story’s slight but allows kids to practice identifying and dealing with their own big feelings. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-525-57974-8
Page Count: 42
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Dec. 24, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2021
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