A delicate, devastating story about living with loss.
Cotton-candy clouds, sweet forest animals, and a strong bond between a girl and a monster frame an unexpectedly poignant story of grief.
Young Valentina, a girl with pale skin and a tangle of red hair, comes to a forest one day, attracted by the scent of sugary sweetness. The source is a new cotton-candy stand run by Monster, a giant, shaggy, horned creature covered in pale pink fur. The two become instant friends, building spun clouds that float above a fantasy world in which verdant hills have eyes and stuffed animals become tea-party companions. But early in the story, hints of a darker subtext appear. Monster helps Valentina with her nightmares, and Valentina brightens Monster’s fur with her love. When the dark of winter arrives, Monster disappears, never to return. The forest animals arrive to comfort her. A rabbit elder explains, “At some point, when the body grows old, it stops feeling, stops breathing. It fades away. We leave this world to start a new journey. It was Monster’s time to journey on.” The memory of Monster’s love keeps Valentina’s nightmares from returning, and when she grows up and has a daughter of her own, Monster’s legacy and the forest’s healing powers stay with her. Ruiz’s tale is haunting and uniquely styled, with its fantastical elements perfectly balanced by a profoundly wise understanding of grief. Unlike the stretchy pink clouds that dot the sky, it’s an examination of death and trauma that is anything but sugarcoated. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
A delicate, devastating story about living with loss. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: May 28, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4788-7059-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Reycraft Books
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
Share at Halloween or use as an example of playing with chants and rhymes. Perhaps this title will inspire many magical...
When gloomy weather threatens the Witch Parade, young Delia tries out various spells to change the weather.
As Delia swoops in for the Halloween event, the rain is “positively pouring buckets,” so Delia brandishes her wand declaring, “It’s raining, it’s pouring, / but raindrops are BORING. / Change the rainfall on my head. / Make it CATS and DOGS instead!” Though at first they enjoy the adorable animals falling from the sky, the witches soon begin to grumble again. Delia summons further odd pairings from above, such as hats and clogs as well as bats and frogs. But nothing seems to work to keep everyone happy. Delia decides to cast one more spell—to return things to the way they were. Her chant brings back the rain, and the parade proceeds to the delight of all. “The floats began to float. The marching band learned synchronized swimming.” All is well, but the final page turn reveals a future weather conundrum. Colby’s playful spells encourage interactive participation, while repetition of key phrases adds a pleasing rhythm. Henry also gets the illustrations right, with mostly gray tones punctuated by muted greens, purples, and orange to display the kindly coven of green-skinned gals hovering on their brooms.
Share at Halloween or use as an example of playing with chants and rhymes. Perhaps this title will inspire many magical spells. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 11, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-250-04992-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Like the last sip of a chocolate milkshake, it’s very satisfying.
A story-reading dragon—what’s not to like?
Duncan the Dragon loves to read. But the stories so excite him, his imagination catches fire—and so do his books, leaving him wondering about the endings. Does the captain save the ship? Do aliens conquer the Earth? Desperate to reach the all-important words “The End” (“like the last sip of a chocolate milk shake”), he tries reading in the refrigerator, in front of a bank of electric fans, and even in a bathtub filled with ice. Nothing works. He decides to ask a friend to read to him, but the raccoon, possum, and bull all refuse. Weeping, Duncan is ready to give up, but one of his draconic tears runs “split-splat into a mouse,” a book-loving mouse! Together they battle sea monsters, dodge icebergs, and discover new lands, giving rise to a fast friendship. Driscoll’s friendly illustrations are pencil sketches painted in Adobe Photoshop; she varies full-bleed paintings with vignettes surrounded by white space, imaginary scenes rendered in monochrome to set them apart. Duncan himself is green, winged, and scaly, but his snout is unthreateningly bovine, and he wears red sneakers with his shoelaces untied—a nicely vulnerable touch. Though there are lots of unusual friendship stories in picture books, the vivid colors, expressive faces, and comic details make this one likely to be a storytime hit.
Like the last sip of a chocolate milkshake, it’s very satisfying. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: June 9, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-75507-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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