The process of understanding emotion, especially for young children, can be overwhelming and abstract—the Blooz just might...
In the imagination of one little girl, the “blues” take the shape of a very big, very wet and very blue bumbling monster.
The Blooz isn’t scary; it just drips and sloshes and oozes (as one might expect of personified gloom). The little girl tries to keep it away and hotly tells it, “You weren’t invited.” But the Blooz dribbles right into her chocolate milk and is there to stay. She tries all different tactics: ignoring it, yelling at it, asking it questions, even offering the last peach-raspberry ice pop in the box. But the Blooz just sits there, large and lumpy. Exasperated, the little girl sits and stares right back. Finally, in a very Buddhist approach, she accepts the sadness for what it is and simply spends a little time with it. That is often the only true way to set the Blooz free. First-time author Levis writes with a particularly refreshing innocence that affirms readers’ feelings but also shows them that sadness does not have to be scary—or even a bad thing. Davis abets this with his portrayal of the Blooz as a vaguely Seuss-ian and wholly unthreatening big-nosed blob in an old-fashioned–looking, blue-striped romper.
The process of understanding emotion, especially for young children, can be overwhelming and abstract—the Blooz just might be the perfect concrete visual to help everyone get through those cranky days. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-547-74560-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: Aug. 7, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2012
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted...
Reinvention is the name of the game for two blobs of clay.
A blue-eyed gray blob and a brown-eyed brown blob sit side by side, unsure as to what’s going to happen next. The gray anticipates an adventure, while the brown appears apprehensive. A pair of hands descends, and soon, amid a flurry of squishing and prodding and poking and sculpting, a handsome gray wolf and a stately brown owl emerge. The hands disappear, leaving the friends to their own devices. The owl is pleased, but the wolf convinces it that the best is yet to come. An ear pulled here and an extra eye placed there, and before you can shake a carving stick, a spurt of frenetic self-exploration—expressed as a tangled black scribble—reveals a succession of smug hybrid beasts. After all, the opportunity to become a “pig-e-phant” doesn’t come around every day. But the sound of approaching footsteps panics the pair of Picassos. How are they going to “fix [them]selves” on time? Soon a hippopotamus and peacock are staring bug-eyed at a returning pair of astonished hands. The creative naiveté of the “clay mates” is perfectly captured by Petty’s feisty, spot-on dialogue: “This was your idea…and it was a BAD one.” Eldridge’s endearing sculpted images are photographed against the stark white background of an artist’s work table to great effect.
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted fun of their own . (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-30311-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
The story’s slight but allows kids to practice identifying and dealing with their own big feelings.
The diverse group of kids from All Are Welcome (2018) this time gathers in a vacant lot with tools in hand to clear the debris and make something new. But therein lies the rub: What should the something new be? While the exact nature of the disagreement is unfortunately not made clear to readers, the big feelings that the children exhibit are very clear (and for readers who need practice reading facial clues, there’s a labeled chart of 15 in the frontmatter). This book’s refrain is “How can I help? / What can we do?” And the answers, spread over several pages and not spelled out in so many words but rather shown in the illustrations, are: talk it through, compromise, and see things from another perspective. As a guide for dealing with feelings and problem-solving, the book is a bit slim and lacks a solid story to hook readers. But, as with its predecessor, its strength is again the diversity on display in its pages. There’s a rainbow of skin tones and hair colors as well as abundant variation in hair texture, several children exhibit visible disabilities, including one child who uses a wheelchair, and there are markers of religious and cultural diversity. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 29.6% of actual size.)
The story’s slight but allows kids to practice identifying and dealing with their own big feelings. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-525-57974-8
Page Count: 42
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Dec. 24, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2021
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