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EMMA’S QUESTION

Name: EMMA’S QUESTION
Author: Catherine Urdahl
ISBN: 978-1-58089-145-5

by Catherine Urdahl & illustrated by Janine Dawson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 2009

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The buildup to the revelation of Emma’s titular question takes some time, while Urdahl introduces Emma, her parents and her beloved, hospitalized Grandma. “Are you going to die?” Emma finally asks when permitted to visit, and Grandma, who has already soothed Emma’s fears about her I.V. by calling it her “dancing partner,” emerges as a hero by using humor and gentle honesty to respond: “Not today. I have a Chutes and Ladders game to play.” While Emma and her parents’ emotional turmoil leading up to the hospital visit resonates, it’s troubling that her parents haven’t taken the time to sit down with her to talk. By placing the responsibility of answering and comforting Emma on the gravely ill Grandma rather than on her parents, the book introduces a contextual dissonance, given that its likely users are parents seeking to provide their own children with a literary mirror to their own experiences. Dawson’s cartoon-style watercolor illustrations occasionally provide successful comic relief, but often emerge as one half of a contradictory pairing with the seriousness of the text’s content. (Picture book. 5-7)

Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2009

ISBN: 978-1-58089-145-5

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Charlesbridge

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2009

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

- BOOK REVIEW
VIRGINIA WAS A SPY
by Catherine Urdahl ; illustrated by Gary Kelley

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POLKA-DOT FIXES KINDERGARTEN
by Catherine Urdahl & illustrated by Mai S. Kemble

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THE BIGGEST BED IN THE WORLD

by Lindsay Camp ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 29, 2000

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Overcrowding in the parental sack gets humorous treatment, if an unlikely ending, in this quest for a good night’s sleep. When Ben is just a baby, he is a welcome presence in bed with his mother and father, but babies grow. When Billy arrives, the father buys himself a bigger bed; when the twins arrive, he must make a larger bed himself, large enough for the triplets who come along shortly thereafter. The bed is so colossal, and its citizenry so vast, that it takes on a life of its own. The father commands the mob to disband, ordering them to sleep in a great tiered bunk-bed system he constructs, and gets a simple double for himself and his wife. Readers won’t be surprised when he can’t sleep until the gang returns, packed in like sardines. This good-hearted tribute strikes many familiar notes, as do the spray of feet and arms akimbo depicted by Langley. (Picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: Feb. 29, 2000

ISBN: 0-06-028687-3

Page Count: 40

Publisher: HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1999

Categories:

CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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THE SILENCE IN THE MOUNTAINS

by Liz Rosenberg ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1999

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Establishing roots in a new country is hard for Iksander and his family, who had to flee their war-torn homeland. As the family adjusts, Iksander knows that something is missing, that there is something he left behind. Each of his family members tries to appease his homesickness, but it’s Iksander’s grandfather who shows him how to appreciate his new country, and helps him locate a place where there are similarities to the silence found in the mountains of home. This heartwarming tale, with its simple, meditative narrative, will comfort any child who has left a special place behind. Soentpiet’s landscapes—which vary from the majestic mountains and olive trees of Iksander’s homeland, to the bustle of the city, to the peaceful green hills of an American farm—are breathtaking. His work also captures tender gestures and stirring subtleties such as the vague image of the Statue of Liberty as seen from an airplane window. (Picture book. 4-7)