by Carey Sookocheff ; illustrated by Carey Sookocheff ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 20, 2017
An intriguing approach to exploring a familiar natural phenomenon, this will appeal to thoughtful young listeners who may...
A young boy describes the ways and places that he gets wet in his world.
From a dip in the pool to splashing in a puddle to enjoying his pets’ sloppy kisses, with quite a few damp diversions along the way, Sookocheff’s unnamed, pale-skinned first-person narrator catalogs his experience with liquids. He notes that sometimes he gets wet slowly, as when he starts his time at the swimming pool by dipping just his toes in; other times it happens fast, as when a cannonball dive makes a big splash. Sometimes it’s voluntary—and fun. Other times, getting wet doesn’t feel so good and brings on tears. Luckily his dad’s there to comfort him (and get wet himself). Getting wet and dirty leads to a bath: getting wet to get clean. Speaking directly to readers about everyday experiences, the text is convincingly childlike and pleasingly immediate. The simple yet expressive illustrations feature round-headed, swoopy-armed people and large swathes of subdued, opaque blues, grays, and greens. They mirror the action and match the low-key tone of the narrative perfectly. There’s gentle humor, compelling (but comfortingly minor) angst, and a loving family to keep the boy safe through his adventures.
An intriguing approach to exploring a familiar natural phenomenon, this will appeal to thoughtful young listeners who may want to share their own experiences in response. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: June 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-62779-775-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
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by Sybil Rosen ; illustrated by Camille Garoche ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
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by Drew Daywalt ; illustrated by Oliver Jeffers ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 24, 2019
As ephemeral as a valentine.
Daywalt and Jeffers’ wandering crayons explore love.
Each double-page spread offers readers a vision of one of the anthropomorphic crayons on the left along with the statement “Love is [color].” The word love is represented by a small heart in the appropriate color. Opposite, childlike crayon drawings explain how that color represents love. So, readers learn, “love is green. / Because love is helpful.” The accompanying crayon drawing depicts two alligators, one holding a recycling bin and the other tossing a plastic cup into it, offering readers two ways of understanding green. Some statements are thought-provoking: “Love is white. / Because sometimes love is hard to see,” reaches beyond the immediate image of a cat’s yellow eyes, pink nose, and black mouth and whiskers, its white face and body indistinguishable from the paper it’s drawn on, to prompt real questions. “Love is brown. / Because sometimes love stinks,” on the other hand, depicted by a brown bear standing next to a brown, squiggly turd, may provoke giggles but is fundamentally a cheap laugh. Some of the color assignments have a distinctly arbitrary feel: Why is purple associated with the imagination and pink with silliness? Fans of The Day the Crayons Quit (2013) hoping for more clever, metaliterary fun will be disappointed by this rather syrupy read.
As ephemeral as a valentine. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Dec. 24, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5247-9268-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2021
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by Drew Daywalt ; illustrated by Oliver Jeffers
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by Drew Daywalt & illustrated by Oliver Jeffers
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