by Carmel Stoesz ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 30, 2017
Adults may relish reading this tale aloud while their lap readers enjoy the beautiful illustrations.
Paintings of a white child and a host of friendly animals set the stage for a welcome-to-the-world poem in this debut picture book.
Beginning with imagining that a baby journeys “from beyond the last star” to be born, this volume, dominated by oversized images with only one stanza on every two-page spread, makes the event a thing of legend. The infant’s smile ignites the Northern Lights. But the poem also offers readers a chance to tell their own stories, asking them to wonder how they began. The poem questions who lives within the baby’s heart and what language that “who” speaks. Many of Stoesz’s metaphors, particularly those from a spiritual perspective, will likely soar over young readers’ heads while others, such as the concept that monsters can be tamed with kindness, may resonate. Although most of the stanzas hold the same rhythm and rhyme pattern, a few misfire (“Who is it there, lying deep in your heart? / Is it a song? Or a lion? Or perhaps a buzzing bee?”). But the paintings by debut illustrator Rivarola are gorgeous. While the images fail to portray a diverse cast, kids should love the idea of riding on a giraffe’s head to see the world or playing on a swing made of starlight.
Adults may relish reading this tale aloud while their lap readers enjoy the beautiful illustrations.Pub Date: Dec. 30, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-7751384-0-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Beloved Connections
Review Posted Online: Sept. 21, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Tom Fletcher ; illustrated by Greg Abbott ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 5, 2017
Playful, engaging, and full of opportunities for empathy—a raucous storytime hit.
Readers try to dislodge a monster from the pages of this emotive and interactive read-aloud.
“OH NO!” the story starts. “There’s a monster in your book!” The blue, round-headed monster with pink horns and a pink-tipped tail can be seen cheerfully munching on the opening page. “Let’s try to get him out,” declares the narrator. Readers are encouraged to shake, tilt, and spin the book around, while the monster careens around an empty background looking scared and lost. Viewers are exhorted to tickle the monster’s feet, blow on the page, and make a really loud noise. Finally, shockingly, it works: “Now he’s in your room!” But clearly a monster in your book is safer than a monster in your room, so he’s coaxed back into the illustrations and lulled to sleep, curled up under one page and cuddling a bit of another like a child with their blankie. The monster’s entirely cute appearance and clear emotional reactions to his treatment add to the interactive aspect, and some young readers might even resist the instructions to avoid hurting their new pal. Children will be brought along on the monster’s journey, going from excited, noisy, and wiggly to calm and steady (one can hope).
Playful, engaging, and full of opportunities for empathy—a raucous storytime hit. (Picture book. 2-7)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5247-6456-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: June 4, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2017
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by Carson Ellis ; illustrated by Carson Ellis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 24, 2015
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions.
Ellis, known for her illustrations for Colin Meloy’s Wildwood series, here riffs on the concept of “home.”
Shifting among homes mundane and speculative, contemporary and not, Ellis begins and ends with views of her own home and a peek into her studio. She highlights palaces and mansions, but she also takes readers to animal homes and a certain famously folkloric shoe (whose iconic Old Woman manages a passel of multiethnic kids absorbed in daring games). One spread showcases “some folks” who “live on the road”; a band unloads its tour bus in front of a theater marquee. Ellis’ compelling ink and gouache paintings, in a palette of blue-grays, sepia and brick red, depict scenes ranging from mythical, underwater Atlantis to a distant moonscape. Another spread, depicting a garden and large building under connected, transparent domes, invites readers to wonder: “Who in the world lives here? / And why?” (Earth is seen as a distant blue marble.) Some of Ellis’ chosen depictions, oddly juxtaposed and stripped of any historical or cultural context due to the stylized design and spare text, become stereotypical. “Some homes are boats. / Some homes are wigwams.” A sailing ship’s crew seems poised to land near a trio of men clad in breechcloths—otherwise unidentified and unremarked upon.
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6529-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
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