A sensitive, reassuring, and well-illustrated work.
Two recently reunited rabbits discuss their feelings about their separation in Ghosh Ippen’s picture book.
Little Rabbit sighs and tells Big Rabbit, “When you weren’t with me, I missed you so much.” Little Rabbit wanted to be held, and Big Rabbit wanted to hug the youngster. Big Rabbit apologizes for not being there and reassures Little Rabbit that they’re together now. They acknowledge that Little Rabbit likely felt confused, scared, hurt, sad, angry, and alone. Big Rabbit wants to know what Little Rabbit did during their separation and if “good people” helped, although readers may wonder if they meant “good rabbits.” Ghosh Ippen, the associate director of the Child Trauma Research Program at the University of California, San Francisco, and illustrator Erich Ippen Jr. previously collaborated on Once I Was Very Very Scared (2017). The images effectively use washes of color; Little Rabbit is surrounded by orange when mad, dark blue when worried, green when having a stomachache, and mauve when frightened. Using nongendered rabbits helps to make the story universal and child-friendly. The rabbits start out quite far apart on green grass, but their distance lessens until they’re “quite close” and blue sky appears. The typeface is pleasant to read but uses only uppercase N’s, which may be confusing to young readers.
A sensitive, reassuring, and well-illustrated work.Pub Date: April 18, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-950168-01-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Piplo Productions
Review Posted Online: Nov. 1, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it.
What happens when a robot washes up alone on an island?
“Everything was just right on the island.” Brown beautifully re-creates the first days of Roz, the protagonist of his Wild Robot novels, as she adapts to living in the natural world. A storm-tossed ship, seen in the opening just before the title page, and a packing crate are the only other human-made objects to appear in this close-up look at the robot and her new home. Roz emerges from the crate, and her first thought as she sets off up a grassy hill—”This must be where I belong”—is sweetly glorious, a note of recognition rather than conquest. Roz learns to move, hide, and communicate like the creatures she meets. When she discovers an orphaned egg—and the gosling Brightbill, who eventually hatches—her decision to be his mother seems a natural extension of her adaptation. Once he flies south for the winter, her quiet wait across seasons for his return is a poignant portrayal of separation and change. Brown’s clean, precise lines and deep, light-filled colors offer a sense of what Roz might be seeing, suggesting a place that is alive yet deeply serene and radiant. Though the book stands alone, it adds an immensely appealing dimension to Roz’s world. Round thumbnails offer charming peeks into the island world, depicting Roz’s animal neighbors and Brightbill’s maturation.
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it. (author’s note) (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: June 24, 2025
ISBN: 9780316669467
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
The runaway cookie in this Mexican bakery is a soft, brown, stubby-tailed piglet as impertinently bold and smug in his continual escape as his Gingerbread Boy cousin. “Chase me! Chase me down the street. But this is one piggy you won’t get to eat! / ¡Córrele, córrele! ¡Y Córrele más! ¡Soy el cochinito que jamás comerás!” This bouncy dual refrain extends the familiar cumulative text, rendered in both English and Spanish, as piggy manages to elude Marta the baker, Lorenzo the mechanic, Mamá Nita the beautician, Joaquín the telephone repairman and a host of other neighborhood adults—until he is outsmarted by Rosa, a little girl on her way to school, who foxily “helps him” cross the street. Safely tucked into her backpack, piggy is both a welcome surprise and an excuse for Rosa’s lateness to class. Deep opaque acrylic paintings of a colorful barrio and its residents in pursuit add the right amount of cultural flavor to this vivid Latino retelling. Recipe appended. (Picture book. 3-6)
Pub Date: Nov. 30, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-55885-586-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Piñata Books/Arte Público
Review Posted Online: Sept. 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2010
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