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EMILY'S BLUE PERIOD

Name: EMILY'S BLUE PERIOD
Author: Cathleen Daly
ISBN: 978-1-59643-469-1

by Cathleen Daly ; illustrated by Lisa Brown ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 17, 2014

A worthwhile, idiosyncratic demonstration of a specific artist’s relevance to a young child.

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A girl adjusts to her parents’ divorce with the help of Pablo Picasso’s artwork.

In school, Emily’s learning how Picasso’s cubist portrayals “mix things up,” scooting a nose sideways or stacking eyes over eyes. This notion touches her, as her family feels mixed up too: “Emily’s dad is no longer where he belongs. Suddenly, he lives in his own little cube.” An aerial map shows Emily’s gridlike neighborhood, her father’s new building—pale blue—two blocks from the family house. At a furniture store, Emily sees the furniture as blue and blue-green cubes and refuses to help Dad choose any. She won’t use black charcoal; like Picasso when he was sad, she hews to blue. Despite cuddles from Mom, “Emily’s Blue Period lasts quite some time.” A school assignment chafes: How can she make a collage of her house when she has two? Gathering objects from both, she figures it out, but textual pacing frustrates somewhat: Her completed “big and soggy and beautiful” chef-d’oeuvre is described in words for eight pages before it’s shown, implying that her piece’s concept outweighs its artistic value rather than complementing it. However, Brown’s soothing, blue-focused watercolors with pencil lines and digitally collaged highlights provide an accessible visual link to Picasso. One out-of-place joke about Picasso’s full Spanish name rankles.

A worthwhile, idiosyncratic demonstration of a specific artist’s relevance to a young child. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: June 17, 2014

ISBN: 978-1-59643-469-1

Page Count: 58

Publisher: Neal Porter/Roaring Brook

Review Posted Online: April 8, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2014

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

- BOOK REVIEW
PRUDENCE WANTS A PET
by Cathleen Daly & illustrated by Stephen Michael King

- BOOK REVIEW
FLIRT CLUB
by Cathleen Daly

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LITTLE BLUE TRUCK AND RACER RED

From the Little Blue Truck series

by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 25, 2025

A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.

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In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.

Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”

A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: March 25, 2025

ISBN: 9780063387843

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK MAKES A FRIEND
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry

- BOOK REVIEW
TIME FOR SCHOOL, LITTLE BLUE TRUCK
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK'S VALENTINE
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)