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
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it.
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 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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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