A sensitively portrayed snapshot of an all-too-common family experience.
Fragile memories can be strengthened through family and love.
An Asian-presenting young boy with tan skin, dark hair, and a bright green backpack visits his lighter-skinned grandmother only to discover that she does not recognize him as her grandson Andy. Instead, she believes he is Willie, a boy she taught in kindergarten years back, who once gave her a homemade bird’s nest. Andy gently enters the memory with his grandmother, calling her Miss Irwin instead, and learns about the events of that day, when Miss Irwin brought her class to a plum tree in the yard outside the school to see a hummingbird sip nectar from a feeder in the tree. Grandma’s memory again falters in recalling the recipe for hummingbird nectar, but Andy is there to prompt her and sustain the story. Grandma finds her way through the foggy reminiscence, and the two spend a pleasant afternoon, making plans to construct a new feeder. Say’s muted palette features pastel hues and layered brush strokes that soften and lend a dreamlike quality to the illustrations. Andy’s and Grandma’s faces are often featureless or even blurred, making this experience—of seeing an older relative deal with memory decline—feel universal. The quiet and straightforward text, while not particularly eventful, nevertheless may spark important questions among children. An author’s note provides additional background. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A sensitively portrayed snapshot of an all-too-common family experience. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: April 18, 2023
ISBN: 9781338300406
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 7, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
This distinctly gentle, earnest protagonist’s quiet triumphs still resonate.
A little bird yearns for more.
Last seen in Lonely Bird (2023), the titular character—an avian equivalent of a stick figure—resembles nothing so much as a cut-paper drawing living in a world of thick, realistic oil paints. Little wonder that she can’t figure out where she fits in. Perhaps the sky? But the real birds that can fly have wings that seem entirely different from her own. With pencil-sketched dreams of flight dancing in her head, she sets off to research the many ways of taking to the skies. Drawings and experiments lead to a series of tests. Lonely Bird builds a glider, tweaking her designs after a precipitous crash before finally attaining a bit of success. Alas, a downdraft causes her to crash in a spiderweb in a tree, her home below appearing comparatively distant. With her plane now crushed, how will she return? This book contains the very rare instance of a realistic-looking spider proving to be a capable friend and ally at a time of need. Lonely Bird’s final conclusion that “I know exactly where I belong” is heartening, though by no means clear. Her declaration may lead to some thoughtful discussions with young readers about why she feels the way she does. The children who reside in her home present white.
This distinctly gentle, earnest protagonist’s quiet triumphs still resonate. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781536226195
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
Even tantrum-prone readers will love seeing how the grumbletroll works through rage and restores friendships.
When he’s frustrated, hungry, and stubborn, even the nicest troll can turn into a grumbletroll.
“Right behind the forest, first a few steps straight ahead, then once to the left and twice to the right, there lives a little troll.” He’s clearly enjoying a marvelous life—until he decides to build himself a cottage retreat. When his construction collapses, the furry, bright blue troll stomps off in an escalating tantrum described and depicted with both humor and insight. When apples won’t fall from the tree, he shouts “so angrily” that “the worms in the apples get hiccups.” Every little thing makes him rage harder. “It’s as if there is a thunderstorm living inside him. With lightning shooting out of the sky. With thunder rumbling tremendously.” Now the grumbletroll emerges, complete with two scraggly tusks marring his once-cuddly face. That night, his animal friends encourage the grumbletroll to settle down and let them sleep, but he defiantly insists on sleeping sitting up. The next morning, when the grumbletroll roars with complaints, his fed-up friends leave. Soon lonely and bored, the grumbletroll floats an apology to his friends, who are, perhaps unrealistically, quick to accept, and troll’s marvelous life resumes, his cottage retreat now complete. At more than 800 words, this book is recommended for practiced listeners who are also ready to think about managing their own anger. This German import is a companion title for a plush toy developed by creative team aprilkind.
Even tantrum-prone readers will love seeing how the grumbletroll works through rage and restores friendships. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: April 28, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7643-6117-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Schiffer
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2021
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