A strange and special fairy tale that will resonate with many readers.
Baldwin takes readers on a tenacious trek in this hopeful picture book.
A boy leaves home for a sail in the morning, assuring his mother that he’ll return for dinner. A wild storm swallows up the boy, who’s rescued by a mermaid. She whisks him to the Island of the Eye, where he’ll always be safe—but alone forever. Determined to have a fuller life, the boy confronts walls of water, a dragon, and the “Reef of no Return,” but in order to survive, he must truly believe that he’s “stronger than any storm.” Baldwin seems to have intentionally created a generic character—one that effectively allows readers to see themselves in the eye of the storm, which can represent a range of real-life struggles. Efficient, descriptive word choices add to the fairy-tale feel of the story. The sparse text sometimes stumbles through the artwork and other times stands alone, establishing the weather’s rocky rhythm. The illustrations establish an emotional, heavy tone and simultaneously show and tell the tale; indeed, some events take place solely in Bell’s stark, black-and-white line drawings. In a time of pandemic, this survival story provides welcome sunlight in a surging storm.
A strange and special fairy tale that will resonate with many readers.Pub Date: April 5, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-9791882-4-4
Page Count: 49
Publisher: Decozen Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Powered by whimsy and nostalgia, a doggone adorable tale of superheroes transforming the world for the better.
Can flying puppies, fueled by people’s hugs, save the world from gloom?
Light-skinned Snarly McBummerpants is busy sending out Mopey Smokes (evil-looking dark brown clouds) from his volcano on the Island of Woe to create a sad state of affairs. But the caped puppies, each equipped with a rocket and hailing from “the outer reaches of NOT-FROM-HERE,” use their abilities to conquer the morose McBummerpants and bring happiness back to everyone’s lives. The meticulously detailed illustrations carry the story, dark colors turning to rainbow hues and frowns turning to smiles. From Big Brad to Tiny Brad, the smallest, most powerful puppy, who “[licks] a kiss right on the tip of Snarly McBummerpants’s nose,” these absolutely endearing pooches elicit a universal “AWWWWWWWWWW!” from all who encounter them. Joyce’s witty illustrations depict diverse children and adults who appear to hail from different decades. Two teenagers wear the bobby socks and saddle shoes of the 1940s and ’50s and sit atop a retro soda cooler. Other kids ride the skateboards of a later era. Laurel and Hardy, classic movie performers who may need introduction, are amusingly pictured as bullies turned florists (a little odd, since only Hardy bullied Laurel). Even McBummerpants seems reminiscent of an old-time movie villain. The text is less inventive than the pictures, but the message of good over evil is always timely.
Powered by whimsy and nostalgia, a doggone adorable tale of superheroes transforming the world for the better. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781665961332
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2024
An imaginative and engaging look into artistic possibility.
Opposing art implements must learn to coexist in the same space and create together as one adds while the other subtracts.
Change is hard, especially for Pencil. The solitary graphite artist who “loved to draw” finds his worldview challenged when Eraser comes into the picture and uses negative space to complicate the drawings. Believing art can happen only when you add to the image, Pencil has a hard time playing well with others and accepting the notion that, sometimes, less is more. In contrast, ever gleeful Eraser sees potential and beauty in removing. When Pencil challenges Eraser to create art from his chaotic lines, Eraser deftly gives Pencil something he cannot resist: a maze. Eraser’s creativity opens Pencil to the possibility that, perhaps, there might be more to art than making lines on a paper. The two become fast friends as the potential for their creativity doubles when combining forces. Debut illustrator Blanco creates endearing endpapers that serve as mirrors to the story. Although this is a creative concept, it comes after Max Amato’s Perfect (2019), which covers similar conceptual territory. However, through Kilpatrick and Ramos’ text, Pencil and Eraser entangle in a deeper dialogue than Amato’s implements do, and further potential for disaster—or so Pencil would think—is humorously foreshadowed by more art utensils coming into the picture.
An imaginative and engaging look into artistic possibility. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: May 28, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-30939-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Imprint
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2019
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