Elegantly subversive and utterly charming comes a doll story with a sweet shot of reality. Porcelain colors and delicate line reign in the Victorian-style illustrations, full of verdant hills, beautifully appointed interiors, and lovely detail. When Charlotte gets the gift of a doll from her Aunt Edme, she is not pleased. In her little button boots with a pinafore over her blue dress, she explains to the doll that she and her teddy, Bruno, like climbing trees and making mud cakes. The doll seems to take to this, however, and Charlotte names her Dahlia because, in her froufrou getup, she looks like one. Dahlia also takes to Bruno’s favorite game, “toss-up-in-the-air-and-land-in-a-heap.” But Charlotte is quite upset when, while climbing high in her favorite tree with doll and bear, Dahlia falls to the ground. She takes the doll home, cleans and bandages her, and when Aunt Edme comes for dinner, presents herself, Dahlia, and Bruno. Aunt Edme, as laced and beribboned as Dahlia, kisses them all and notes that when she saw Dahlia in the shop window, she knew “she needed to be out in the sunshine, and played with, and loved.” Charlotte’s room is a wonder, full of shells, birds’ nests, and mounted butterflies. She bests the boys in a wagon race (Dahlia and Bruno are passengers) and paints watercolors in her sketchbook. Little girls already know that linen, silk, and ribbons aren’t incompatible with insatiable curiosity and boundless energy, but it is nice to see that all tied up in a story with a favorite doll. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 29, 2002
ISBN: 0-374-31678-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Frances Foster/Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2002
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
A book that will make young dog-owners smile in recognition and confirm dogless readers' worst suspicions about the mayhem caused by pets, even winsome ones. Sam, who bears passing resemblance to an affable golden retriever, is praised for fetching the family newspaper, and goes on to fetch every other newspaper on the block. In the next story, only the children love Sam's swimming; he is yelled at by lifeguards and fishermen alike when he splashes through every watering hole he can find. Finally, there is woe to the entire family when Sam is bored and lonely for one long night. Boland has an essential message, captured in both both story and illustrations of this Easy-to-Read: Kids and dogs belong together, especially when it's a fun-loving canine like Sam. An appealing tale. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-8037-1530-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1996
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