A lovely—and needed—book about the rewards of persistence and Black people enjoying nature.
A girl and her father, both brown-skinned, hike to the “tippy top” of a mountain in Saint Lucia.
“It’s a great day for watching futbol,” says Daddy, but his daughter wants to go hiking, and she’s raring to go. Dad reminds her that they have to pack their knapsacks. Soon after, they’re off! As they leave their seaside village, the girl shoots ahead eagerly while her father paces himself. Ascending the lushly forested slope, they admire tropical flora and fauna. Dad struggles and pauses to rest, but the spirited girl is undaunted; full of joyful abandon, she leaps over boulders, skirts the insects that attack Dad, and uses a vine to swing across a river, much to her father's dismay. There are mishaps (nothing too serious!), but the pair persist and “mouté! Climb on!” Paul’s text is narrated with brio and exclamations aplenty. Short sentences create a sense of urgency that mirrors the girl’s excitement and haste. Saint Lucian Creole words appear throughout and are glossed in-text, adding cultural authenticity; unfortunately, the words are othered with italicization. Alcántara’s signature motion-packed art, rendered vibrantly in pencil, marker, and gouache with digital touches, lends itself well to a story centering physical activity. Varying visual perspectives allow readers to better feel the characters’ emotions and appreciate the spectacular setting. A surprise seek-and-find challenge at the end can be enjoyed by a broad age range.
A lovely—and needed—book about the rewards of persistence and Black people enjoying nature. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 8, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-7358-4481-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: NorthSouth
Review Posted Online: Dec. 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2022
A delightfully silly celebration of familial love.
A child in search of the best hugger takes a bedtime tour of the world’s most unusual embraces.
In the opening pages of this rhyming picture book, an unnamed narrator asks a curly-haired, tan-skinned child who they think gives the best hugs. At the narrator’s behest, the protagonist spends their bedtime routine receiving affection from a wacky cast of creatures, ranging from meerkats to porcupines to narwhals. These animals have a variety of body types, but even those with a lack of limbs still express their love; the seahorse, for example, gives the child a “smooch” right before bathtime, and a grinning cobra offers the child a “clinch,” wrapping itself around their leg. Although many of the animals prove to be more prickly than cozy—the narrator points out, for example, the sharpness of bird beaks and porcupine quills—even the snuggliest koalas and bears cannot compare to the best hug of all: a parent’s embrace right before bedtime. The use of second-person address combined with the protagonist’s beautifully illustrated facial expressions and the buoyant, clever lines of verse render this book a hilarious and whimsical ride sure to delight both children and the adults who read to them. The pictures and text work together to create a clear narrative arc for the protagonist, and though the ending is a bit predictable, it’s nevertheless a wonderful payoff. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A delightfully silly celebration of familial love. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 24, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-5476-1236-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2022
A visually striking, engaging picture book that sends the message that everyone counts.
A playful counting book also acts as a celebration of family and human diversity.
Shannon’s text is delivered in spare, rhythmic, lilting verse that begins with one and counts up to 10 as it presents different groupings of things and people in individual families, always emphasizing the unitary nature of each combination. “One is six. One line of laundry. One butterfly’s legs. One family.” Gomez’s richly colored pictures clarify and expand on all that the text lists: For “six,” a picture showing six members of a multigenerational family of color includes a line of laundry with six items hanging from it outside of their windows, as well as the painting of a six-legged butterfly that a child in the family is creating. While text never directs the art to depict diverse individuals and family constellations, Gomez does just this in her illustrations. Interracial families are included, as are depictions of men with their arms around each other, and a Sikh man wearing a turban. This inclusive spirit supports the text’s culminating assertion that “One is one and everyone. One earth. One world. One family.”
A visually striking, engaging picture book that sends the message that everyone counts. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 26, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-374-30003-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Frances Foster/Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2015
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