This attempt at a parallel-migration narrative doesn’t quite cohere.
A bird and a young girl travel across the world, meeting at the common end of their journeys.
On a crisp autumn morning in the north of England, Alfie, a young white boy, greets a bird in his garden. She flies away and begins her journey across fields, seas, and mountains. In the desert, when the bird is exhausted, she comes to an oasis where a brown-skinned girl named Leila, dressed in a headscarf and flowing dress, offers her some water. The bird then continues her journey above the jungle and across a river, until finally she crosses the plains and grasslands to the place that she will stay during the cold European winter. At the end of the season—which, in southern Africa, is summer—the bird retraces her journey back to England. But when she stops at the desert oasis, as she always does, she finds Leila’s house abandoned, and Leila is nowhere to be found. The bird calls for Leila, but the girl doesn’t answer, and the bird flies on. At the end of the bird’s journey, she returns to Alfie only to find that he has a new neighbor: Leila, the bird’s missing friend. Addison’s poetic text renders the bird’s journey fascinating and awe-inspiring. However, Leila’s parallel migration story lacks the same detail and care as the bird’s: Other than a hint in the illustration in the form of a picture of dark bodies huddled in a boat on a stormy sea, readers are given no sense of what Leila has been through or where she has gone. The result is a tenuous association that makes the book’s ending fall flat.
This attempt at a parallel-migration narrative doesn’t quite cohere. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 3, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-911373-67-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Lantana
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it.
What happens when a robot washes up alone on an island?
“Everything was just right on the island.” Brown beautifully re-creates the first days of Roz, the protagonist of his Wild Robot novels, as she adapts to living in the natural world. A storm-tossed ship, seen in the opening just before the title page, and a packing crate are the only other human-made objects to appear in this close-up look at the robot and her new home. Roz emerges from the crate, and her first thought as she sets off up a grassy hill—”This must be where I belong”—is sweetly glorious, a note of recognition rather than conquest. Roz learns to move, hide, and communicate like the creatures she meets. When she discovers an orphaned egg—and the gosling Brightbill, who eventually hatches—her decision to be his mother seems a natural extension of her adaptation. Once he flies south for the winter, her quiet wait across seasons for his return is a poignant portrayal of separation and change. Brown’s clean, precise lines and deep, light-filled colors offer a sense of what Roz might be seeing, suggesting a place that is alive yet deeply serene and radiant. Though the book stands alone, it adds an immensely appealing dimension to Roz’s world. Round thumbnails offer charming peeks into the island world, depicting Roz’s animal neighbors and Brightbill’s maturation.
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it. (author’s note) (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: June 24, 2025
ISBN: 9780316669467
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.
Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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