by Astrid Desbordes ; illustrated by Marc Boutavant ; translated by Claudia Zoe Bedrick ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 17, 2017
We were all strangers, once, so howdy, stranger.
The arrival of a stranger—“the Thing”—roils the placid waters of Edmond the Squirrel and George Owl’s day.
This kid-sized narrative touches on Ryszard Kapuscynski’s notion of “the Other.” Edmond the Squirrel and his friend George Owl are down by the stream gathering feathers, moss, twigs, and pine cones. The still air is broken by a strange sound: “SKRAWK.” They look up and see a…well, a Thing: a small haystack of pink fur. Doesn’t matter that the Thing looks like a plush toy, it gives Edmond and George the collywobbles (“This is clearly a very dangerous Thing,” hoots George), and they beat a retreat. Back at Edmond’s, they gorge on green cookies to muster their bravery, which brings out the worst in Edmond. He paints a sign of the Thing’s image with a big X through it and plants it streamside. Desbordes does not soften the unfortunate turns of xenophobia. George wakes the next day still abuzz with the bravery of the green cookies and decides to see if the Thing is still there, but not before disguising himself in a cloak of moss, a chanterelle for a nose, and white pine ear tuffs. He scares the bejesus out of his friends, including Edmond—but not, critically, the Thing. And what sparks friendship? A cookie, the universal language.
We were all strangers, once, so howdy, stranger. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 17, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-59270-217-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Enchanted Lion Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2017
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by Astrid Desbordes ; illustrated by Pauline Martin ; translated by Noelia Hobeika
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by Astrid Desbordes ; illustrated by Pauline Martin ; translated by Linda Burgess
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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 Dev Petty ; illustrated by Mike Boldt
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by Dev Petty ; illustrated by Ana Aranda
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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by Alexandra Penfold ; illustrated by Suzanne Kaufman
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by Alexandra Penfold ; illustrated by Suzanne Kaufman
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by Alexandra Penfold ; illustrated by Suzanne Kaufman
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