A lively, innovative story of friendship that encourages readers to think creatively.
A girl beats boredom via invention and a new pal in Faatz’s picture book.
Lizzy feels restless on a “gray” day. After some unsuccessful indoor activities, she takes her dog outside to play and discovers a box of kittens. Her parents say it “isn’t wise if you get them in litters,” so Lizzy sets up a lemonade stand and finds homes for the kittens. Lizzy, who’s White, notices new neighbors moving in, including a Black girl named Luna. The girls unpack boxes together and play with the contents, including musical instruments and chalk. As they build a spaceship out of the empties, a “runaway” kitten pops out! They turn their spaceship into a fort where they stay cozy alongside Lizzy’s dog and the kitten while it rains. The girls notice the rain smeared their chalk hopscotch grid. Using brushes, chalk dust, “some dots here and a splotch of paint there,” they elaborate the streaks to create gigantic, decorative rainbow designs. They celebrate their artistry with their animal companions. Using rhythmic language (“Drippidy drizzle and plippedy plop”), Faatz adds an artistic spin to a cheerful friendship tale. The story also depicts finding inspiration in unexpected ways. Trimarco’s illustrations use various textures and tones, and the spreads featuring colorful chalk designs are delightful. Some scenes feature subtext, like the kitten hiding behind images.
A lively, innovative story of friendship that encourages readers to think creatively.Pub Date: Oct. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-73335-482-0
Page Count: 46
Publisher: Notable Kids Publishing
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Accessible, reassuring and hopeful.
This endearing picture book about a timid boy who longs to belong has an agenda but delivers its message with great sensitivity.
Brian wants to join in but is overlooked, even ostracized, by his classmates. Readers first see him alone on the front endpapers, drawing in chalk on the ground. The school scenarios are uncomfortably familiar: High-maintenance children get the teacher’s attention; team captains choose kickball players by popularity and athletic ability; chatter about birthday parties indicates they are not inclusive events. Tender illustrations rendered in glowing hues capture Brian’s isolation deftly; compared to the others and his surroundings, he appears in black and white. What saves Brian is his creativity. As he draws, Brian imagines amazing stories, including a poignant one about a superhero with the power to make friends. When a new boy takes some ribbing, it is Brian who leaves an illustrated note to make him feel better. The boy does not forget this gesture. It only takes one person noticing Brian for the others to see his talents have value; that he has something to contribute. Brian’s colors pop. In the closing endpapers, Brian’s classmates are spread around him on the ground, “wearing” his chalk-drawn wings and capes. Use this to start a discussion: The author includes suggested questions and recommended reading lists for adults and children.
Accessible, reassuring and hopeful. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-582-46450-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2013
Wins for compassion and for the refusal to let physical limitations hold one back.
With such short arms, how can Tiny T. Rex give a sad friend a hug?
Fleck goes for cute in the simple, minimally detailed illustrations, drawing the diminutive theropod with a chubby turquoise body and little nubs for limbs under a massive, squared-off head. Impelled by the sight of stegosaurian buddy Pointy looking glum, little Tiny sets out to attempt the seemingly impossible, a comforting hug. Having made the rounds seeking advice—the dino’s pea-green dad recommends math; purple, New Age aunt offers cucumber juice (“That is disgusting”); red mom tells him that it’s OK not to be able to hug (“You are tiny, but your heart is big!”), and blue and yellow older sibs suggest practice—Tiny takes up the last as the most immediately useful notion. Unfortunately, the “tree” the little reptile tries to hug turns out to be a pterodactyl’s leg. “Now I am falling,” Tiny notes in the consistently self-referential narrative. “I should not have let go.” Fortunately, Tiny lands on Pointy’s head, and the proclamation that though Rexes’ hugs may be tiny, “I will do my very best because you are my very best friend” proves just the mood-lightening ticket. “Thank you, Tiny. That was the biggest hug ever.” Young audiences always find the “clueless grown-ups” trope a knee-slapper, the overall tone never turns preachy, and Tiny’s instinctive kindness definitely puts him at (gentle) odds with the dinky dino star of Bob Shea’s Dinosaur Vs. series.
Wins for compassion and for the refusal to let physical limitations hold one back. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: March 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4521-7033-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 11, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2018
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