A tongue-in-cheek bildungsroman about celebrating differences and the underrated superpowers of gentleness and sweetness.
Kaijus—giant Godzilla-like creatures—are supposed to have fearsome powers like atomic breath, the ability to summon storms, and magnetism—but not young Anzu.
Instead, he was born with the power of finding “beauty in small things.” Finally old enough to be assigned his own personal city to terrorize, Anzu hopes to impress his fond parents. But instead of inflicting fiery destruction on the tiny kodamalike residents at his feet, the best he can do is rain garlands of flowers down on them. He tries to wreak havoc by uprooting a tree but instead ends up creating a peaceful playground of blossoming animal topiaries. “I’ll never strike fear,” Anzu frets. “Am I even a kaiju?” Young readers may well share his doubts since, despite towering over the city of lumpy buildings made from low mounds of dirt, he and his family look more like cute, plump stuffies than scary reptilian beasts. When Anzu does at last manage a little devastation, his feeling of triumph is short-lived—and so, to restore joy and laughter, he exerts his special flower powers with surprising, and satisfying, results. The text is engaging and heartwarming without being cloying. The bright, colorful illustrations are rendered in watercolor and ink. Full-bleed artwork is interspersed with panels, which, along with the use of narrative boxes, lend a graphic feel to the presentation.
A tongue-in-cheek bildungsroman about celebrating differences and the underrated superpowers of gentleness and sweetness. (Graphic picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Jan. 11, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-77612-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2022
A solid selection for those youngsters plagued by drama llamas—you know who you are!
A young boy realizes that articulating his fears just might put them in their place.
Poor Alex Allen is beset by anxiety. He frets about not knowing the right answer in class, having two left feet when he’s dancing, and dealing with disagreements with his sister. As his worries mount, they morph into a larger-than-life purple drama llama that follows Alex everywhere. The animal even disturbs his rest, taking his place in bed and leaving Alex sleeping on the floor. Alex makes several attempts to get rid of the pesky beast, but all fail, and the llama takes over his life, eventually becoming “almost bigger than a bus!” Wise teacher Ms. Myrtle then takes pity on the youngster and suggests that talking about his fears might put the llama in its place. Confiding in Ms. Myrtle helps, and while the llama doesn’t disappear altogether, it does end up becoming small enough to handle—an effective metaphor for coping with anxiety. The rhyming, descriptive text, reassuring message, and helpful coping strategies make this a good read-aloud choice. Set against plentiful white space, the colorful, loose-lined Photoshop illustrations offer humorous and relatable depictions of Alex’s worried response to the ever-growing llama. Alex is brown-skinned, Ms. Myrtle is light-skinned, and his class is diverse. Backmatter includes tips for taming a drama llama.
A solid selection for those youngsters plagued by drama llamas—you know who you are! (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2024
ISBN: 9781728283135
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
For fans of Evert and Breiehagen’s Wish Book series.
Anja and her dog, Birki, do their best to get to a Christmas party in a frozen Nordic landscape.
Anja wishes she had a dog sled to harness Birki to in order to get to the party. The next morning, her cousin Erik appears with his dog sled and an offer to take her there. Lost in a blizzard, they encounter talking wolves who take them to a tent where they can spend the night. A baby polar bear named Tiny appears, separated from his mother. The following day takes them all on an adventure through glaciers and fjords, past an ice castle, and finally to Tiny’s mother and to the party. This digitally produced book is illustrated with photographs that capture the Nordic setting. Unfortunately, the overall effect is weirdly flat, with elements awkwardly set together in images that lack depth. A polar bear perches awkwardly on top of oddly scaled pack ice; Anja and Erik spend a night in the ice castle in niches chiseled into the wall, but they seem oddly disconnected from it. The book has an old-fashioned, European feel; the white, blond children’s red caps and traditional clothing stand out against the dim, bluish winter light. But the wooden, overlong text does little to cultivate the magical fantasy feeling that it’s aiming for.
For fans of Evert and Breiehagen’s Wish Book series. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5247-6566-8
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
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