Dad, daughter, and son head to the hardware store to find tools for home repair.
It’s a bigger house for this growing family of five (plus two cats and a dog), but their new home is in need of some fixing. So it’s off to the hardware store—a charming mom-and-pop shop full of colorful curiosities. There, brother and sister examine walls of hammers and screwdrivers, poke through bins of brads, and learn about levels. Their list complete, they arrive home only to realize an item is missing, and it’s back to the store they go. The artwork, done in a pastel-colored palette, is full of attractive little details, from the patterning on the tool displays to the labels on the window. Captioned spot illustrations depicting the differences among certain tools will delight readers both young and old. Like Taro Gomi, Iwai makes no attempt to light her artwork with shading. Still, objects distinguish themselves as she skillfully applies pattern and color. It’s an appealing environment that, while stylized, feels real as the mother sits on the floor breast-feeding, tools strewn around, reminding her husband of the forgotten item. Dad has white skin and sandy hair, while brother and sister share the dark hair and almond eyes of their mother.
Accessible for all, from the happy shopper to the tool-obsessed. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 22, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-8050-8738-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Dec. 8, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2015
Categories: CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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A succession of animal dads do their best to teach their young to say “Dada” in this picture-book vehicle for Fallon.
A grumpy bull says, “DADA!”; his calf moos back. A sad-looking ram insists, “DADA!”; his lamb baas back. A duck, a bee, a dog, a rabbit, a cat, a mouse, a donkey, a pig, a frog, a rooster, and a horse all fail similarly, spread by spread. A final two-spread sequence finds all of the animals arrayed across the pages, dads on the verso and children on the recto. All the text prior to this point has been either iterations of “Dada” or animal sounds in dialogue bubbles; here, narrative text states, “Now everybody get in line, let’s say it together one more time….” Upon the turn of the page, the animal dads gaze round-eyed as their young across the gutter all cry, “DADA!” (except the duckling, who says, “quack”). Ordóñez's illustrations have a bland, digital look, compositions hardly varying with the characters, although the pastel-colored backgrounds change. The punch line fails from a design standpoint, as the sudden, single-bubble chorus of “DADA” appears to be emanating from background features rather than the baby animals’ mouths (only some of which, on close inspection, appear to be open). It also fails to be funny.
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 9, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-250-00934-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
Categories: CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S FAMILY
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SEEN & HEARD
This celebration of cross-generational bonding is a textual and artistic tour de force.
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A young boy yearns for what he doesn’t have, but his nana teaches him to find beauty in what he has and can give, as well as in the city where they live.
CJ doesn’t want to wait in the rain or take the bus or go places after church. But through Nana’s playful imagination and gentle leadership, he begins to see each moment as an opportunity: Trees drink raindrops from straws; the bus breathes fire; and each person has a story to tell. On the bus, Nana inspires an impromptu concert, and CJ’s lifted into a daydream of colors and light, moon and magic. Later, when walking past broken streetlamps on the way to the soup kitchen, CJ notices a rainbow and thinks of his nana’s special gift to see “beautiful where he never even thought to look.” Through de la Peña’s brilliant text, readers can hear, feel and taste the city: its grit and beauty, its quiet moments of connectedness. Robinson’s exceptional artwork works with it to ensure that readers will fully understand CJ’s journey toward appreciation of the vibrant, fascinating fabric of the city. Loosely defined patterns and gestures offer an immediate and raw quality to the Sasek-like illustrations. Painted in a warm palette, this diverse urban neighborhood is imbued with interest and possibility.
This celebration of cross-generational bonding is a textual and artistic tour de force. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 8, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-399-25774-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Oct. 22, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2014
Categories: CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION
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