A sweet, empowering debut.
A small-eared rabbit and a raggedy sailor become best friends in Angel’s series-starting picture book.
Tubble, a small, white rabbit, lives all alone. On one side of Tubble’s meadow is an ocean; on the other is a forest. Tubble seems happy, but he leads a lonely life. When Tubble spots a boat with a person on it, the rabbit is excited to welcome someone new to shore. The craft lands, and Toyle, the sailor who greets Tubble, announces that the crew is looking for a new shipmate. Tubble’s worried: Can a small, weak rabbit be a good adventurer? Toyle assures Tubble that the rabbit is stronger than they think, as well as brave, smart, and kind. Hearing that praise (“I believe in you. Do you believe in yourself, too?”), the rabbit starts to build faith in their own heroic qualities. While readers may wonder how Toyle recognizes a kindred spirit so quickly, the characters’ repeated affirmations of their own virtues and their decision to become fast friends make them instantly likeable (the rabbit is shy about their merits, and humble even after finding a new mantra). Angel’s simple font and spare text are very approachable, with no words longer than “adventurer” to challenge emergent readers. The digital cartoon illustrations against painterly backgrounds are simple but have an iconic feel. Though Tubble’s small ears initially look disproportionate, they become a character trait.
A sweet, empowering debut.Pub Date: Nov. 16, 2024
ISBN: 9798990714809
Page Count: 48
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Feb. 23, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions.
Ellis, known for her illustrations for Colin Meloy’s Wildwood series, here riffs on the concept of “home.”
Shifting among homes mundane and speculative, contemporary and not, Ellis begins and ends with views of her own home and a peek into her studio. She highlights palaces and mansions, but she also takes readers to animal homes and a certain famously folkloric shoe (whose iconic Old Woman manages a passel of multiethnic kids absorbed in daring games). One spread showcases “some folks” who “live on the road”; a band unloads its tour bus in front of a theater marquee. Ellis’ compelling ink and gouache paintings, in a palette of blue-grays, sepia and brick red, depict scenes ranging from mythical, underwater Atlantis to a distant moonscape. Another spread, depicting a garden and large building under connected, transparent domes, invites readers to wonder: “Who in the world lives here? / And why?” (Earth is seen as a distant blue marble.) Some of Ellis’ chosen depictions, oddly juxtaposed and stripped of any historical or cultural context due to the stylized design and spare text, become stereotypical. “Some homes are boats. / Some homes are wigwams.” A sailing ship’s crew seems poised to land near a trio of men clad in breechcloths—otherwise unidentified and unremarked upon.
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6529-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
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