bookshelf

JANUARY RIDES THE WIND

Name: JANUARY RIDES THE WIND
Author: Charlotte F. Otten
ISBN: 0-688-12556-5

A BOOK OF MONTHS

by Charlotte F. Otten & illustrated by Todd L.W. Doney ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1997

bookshelf

Otten's first children's book offers one vivid short poem for every month of the year: ``February turns everything to gray,'' ``June measures time until the longest day becomes the shortest night,'' and ``September squeezes what is left of summer into night-cool cider,'' etc. Doney's gorgeous, impressionistic paintings combine perfectly with the simple resplendence of Otten's poems, using light and shadow to draw readers into the shade of a willow in April, to the apple-blossom snow of May, and to the baked heat of a July afternoon. Text and art connect seasonal images with nature, people, animals, and home, finally bringing the children seen in the paintings inside for a firelight reading of the same book readers are holding. A splendid walk through the months. (Picture book. 4-9)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1997

ISBN: 0-688-12556-5

Page Count: 32

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1997

Categories:

CHILDREN'S POETRY

bookshelf

TOMORROW IS WAITING

by Kiley Frank ; illustrated by Aaron Meshon ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 8, 2019

There’s always tomorrow.

bookshelf

A lyrical message of perseverance and optimism.

The text uses direct address, which the title- and final-page illustrations suggest comes from an adult voice, to offer inspiration and encouragement. The opening spreads reads, “Tonight as you sleep, a new day stirs. / Each kiss good night is a wish for tomorrow,” as the accompanying art depicts a child with black hair and light skin asleep in a bed that’s fantastically situated in a stylized landscape of buildings, overpasses, and roadways. The effect is dreamlike, in contrast with the next illustration, of a child of color walking through a field and blowing dandelion fluff at sunrise. Until the last spread, each child depicted in a range of settings is solitary. Some visual metaphors falter in terms of credibility, as in the case of a white-appearing child using a wheelchair in an Antarctic ice cave strewn with obstacles, as the text reads “you’ll explore the world, only feeling lost in your imagination.” Others are oblique in attempted connections between text and art. How does a picture of a pale-skinned, black-haired child on a bridge in the rain evoke “first moments that will dance with you”? But the image of a child with pink skin and brown hair scaling a wall as text reads “there will be injustice that will challenge you, and it will surprise you how brave you can be” is clearer.

There’s always tomorrow. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: Jan. 8, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-101-99437-5

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Dial Books

Review Posted Online: Nov. 11, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S POETRY | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

bookshelf

POCKET POEMS

edited by Bobbi Katz & illustrated by Marylin Hafner ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2004

bookshelf

With an eye toward easy memorization, Katz gathers over 50 short poems from the likes of Emily Dickinson, Valerie Worth, Jack Prelutsky, and Lewis Carroll, to such anonymous gems as “The Burp”—“Pardon me for being rude. / It was not me, it was my food. / It got so lonely down below, / it just popped up to say hello.” Katz includes five of her own verses, and promotes an evident newcomer, Emily George, with four entries. Hafner surrounds every selection with fine-lined cartoons, mostly of animals and children engaged in play, reading, or other familiar activities. Amid the ranks of similar collections, this shiny-faced newcomer may not stand out—but neither will it drift to the bottom of the class. (Picture book/poetry. 7-9)