Lovely.
A simple celebration of sibling love, set to the lyrics of a classic R&B song written by the late Withers and Scarborough.
“When I wake up in the morning, love / And the sunlight hurts my eyes… // And something without warning, love / Bears heavy on my mind….” A day seems to get off to a dismal start as a child discovers that the cereal box is empty and steps in a puddle of milk on the kitchen floor. But then, there on the table in the dining nook is a bowl of cereal carefully arranged with juice, flowers, and a loving note to “Big Bro” from the child’s little sib—cuing a chorus of “Lovely Day” across a full spread with vignettes of the Black-presenting pair washing up together and setting out for a day of shared experiences. Is the playground closed for repairs? No problem—here’s a tree to climb and a crowd of other children galloping in to join in the chorus. A sudden rainstorm likewise leaves puddles to dance in while the children happily make their way home beneath a rainbow to welcoming parents and dry towels. Duchess tells the tale in precisely drawn household and neighborhood scenes bright with smiling faces, many in shades of brown and belonging to a cast of joyful neighbors and playmates, including one child who uses a wheelchair and another with a hijab-wearing mom. There’s no musical arrangement, but an afterword expands on the song’s meaning as well as its inspiration and history. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Lovely. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-338-81538-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
Like the last sip of a chocolate milkshake, it’s very satisfying.
A story-reading dragon—what’s not to like?
Duncan the Dragon loves to read. But the stories so excite him, his imagination catches fire—and so do his books, leaving him wondering about the endings. Does the captain save the ship? Do aliens conquer the Earth? Desperate to reach the all-important words “The End” (“like the last sip of a chocolate milk shake”), he tries reading in the refrigerator, in front of a bank of electric fans, and even in a bathtub filled with ice. Nothing works. He decides to ask a friend to read to him, but the raccoon, possum, and bull all refuse. Weeping, Duncan is ready to give up, but one of his draconic tears runs “split-splat into a mouse,” a book-loving mouse! Together they battle sea monsters, dodge icebergs, and discover new lands, giving rise to a fast friendship. Driscoll’s friendly illustrations are pencil sketches painted in Adobe Photoshop; she varies full-bleed paintings with vignettes surrounded by white space, imaginary scenes rendered in monochrome to set them apart. Duncan himself is green, winged, and scaly, but his snout is unthreateningly bovine, and he wears red sneakers with his shoelaces untied—a nicely vulnerable touch. Though there are lots of unusual friendship stories in picture books, the vivid colors, expressive faces, and comic details make this one likely to be a storytime hit.
Like the last sip of a chocolate milkshake, it’s very satisfying. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: June 9, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-75507-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A welcome addition to autumnal storytelling—and to tales of traditional enemies overcoming their history.
Ferry and the Fans portray a popular seasonal character’s unlikely friendship.
Initially, the protagonist is shown in his solitary world: “Scarecrow stands alone and scares / the fox and deer, / the mice and crows. / It’s all he does. It’s all he knows.” His presence is effective; the animals stay outside the fenced-in fields, but the omniscient narrator laments the character’s lack of friends or places to go. Everything changes when a baby crow falls nearby. Breaking his pole so he can bend, the scarecrow picks it up, placing the creature in the bib of his overalls while singing a lullaby. Both abandon natural tendencies until the crow learns to fly—and thus departs. The aabb rhyme scheme flows reasonably well, propelling the narrative through fall, winter, and spring, when the mature crow returns with a mate to build a nest in the overalls bib that once was his home. The Fan brothers capture the emotional tenor of the seasons and the main character in their panoramic pencil, ballpoint, and digital compositions. Particularly poignant is the close-up of the scarecrow’s burlap face, his stitched mouth and leaf-rimmed head conveying such sadness after his companion goes. Some adults may wonder why the scarecrow seems to have only partial agency, but children will be tuned into the problem, gratified by the resolution.
A welcome addition to autumnal storytelling—and to tales of traditional enemies overcoming their history. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-247576-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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