The book is fun to look at, but it imparts so little real information that it really is not much use as a guide to different...
Thirty-four large cities of the world are illustrated in posterlike double-page spreads.
Each spread provides a selective guide to the tourist sites and important features of each city, including topography, architecture, typical cuisine, recreational activities, notable public artworks, historical features, sports arenas, and local customs. Tardif’s whimsical, colorful, graphically simple illustrations are arranged in a rough grid on the page, with a brief caption for each picture and the occasional speech bubble. There is no narrative to speak of, making this a difficult book for many American children to understand, and likewise for parents or teachers to communicate, given that few of them would have enough extraneous knowledge of such relatively obscure cities as Fez, Mumbai or Seoul to fill in the gaps. This unfortunately tends to reinforce stereotyping of people and places (Romans drive small Italian cars, eat pizza, and drink espresso; residents of Buenos Aires dance the tango, play soccer, and eat chorizo sandwiches). Most of the people depicted appear to be of the majority race in their respective countries. A brief glossary lists the few non-English words included, and endpapers show a world map marking the locations of the cities discussed.
The book is fun to look at, but it imparts so little real information that it really is not much use as a guide to different cities or the cultures they represent. (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-77138-721-7
Page Count: 72
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
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
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
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