A simple story with visual appeal and a well-crafted message.
A lonely little kitchen pot doesn’t know what to do with his lid-rattling emotions in Ghosh Ippen’s picture book.
Little Pott, a small cooking pan, wants to be like his father, Holdin Pott, a stoic pressure cooker, who says, “Sadness, anger, I keep ’em inside / along with tears I never cried. / At times I fear I’ll overflow, / but that’s my way, it’s what I know.” Little Pott tries hard to contain his own sorrow and rage when he’s bullied by other pots and pans, but the heat of his emotions reaches the boiling point, and the explosive result leaves him frightened and confused. What will Holdin Pott do? Ghosh Ippen, a child psychologist specializing in childhood trauma, has created multiple gentle and thoughtful picture books informed by her clinical work and practice, including Once I Was Very Very Scared (2018) and You Weren’t With Me (2019). Readers should know that her messages are for parents, too: Here, Holdin Pott looks beyond Little Pott’s messy outburst, recognizing the need for his son to learn how to safely express his feelings and that he’s loved. Illustrator Ippen’s lively pots and pans, in stove and countertop settings, are an offbeat, expressive delight; each full-page, border-to-border image is well integrated with clear, rhyming text.
A simple story with visual appeal and a well-crafted message.Pub Date: Sept. 22, 2019
ISBN: 9781950168064
Page Count: 34
Publisher: Piplo Productions
Review Posted Online: Nov. 7, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
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