Rarely, perhaps never, has so steep an emotional arc been drawn with such utter, winning simplicity.
A little dog and her big ball map an inner life rich in heights of joy and depths of sorrow.
Sticking strictly to pictures—using neutral washes and just a few colors applied in broad, rumpled brushstrokes—Raschka follows floppy-eared Daisy and her large red ball on a walk to the park and a happy chase. Then disaster strikes, when a rougher dog horns in and pops the ball. Even very young viewers will feel Daisy’s pain as she passes in stages through incomprehension, dismay and anger to, at last, a bone-deep sadness that is brilliantly evoked by successive views of the droopy dog slowly sinking into a sofa’s cushions. Doggy delight rekindles, however, when another visit to the park finds the offending pooch and its owner waiting…with a new, blue ball! The final scene of Daisy and ball snuggled together on the sofa positively radiates canine content.
Rarely, perhaps never, has so steep an emotional arc been drawn with such utter, winning simplicity. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: May 10, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-375-85861-1
Page Count: 34
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2011
Affirming and welcome.
A picture-book celebration of individuality and diversity.
Heling and Hembrook’s text opens with the lines, “In all the world over, / this much is true: / You’re somebody special. / There’s only one you.” The art depicts a white-appearing child with red pigtails, first on the floor, drawing, beside a big dog, then getting dressed as the dog sits on the bed and a woman, also white, peeks in. The next scene depicted in the digital, cartoon-style art shows the child hugging the woman and about to get on a school bus with a gaggle of diverse children with varying skin tones, hair textures and colors, and visible disabilities (one child wears a hearing aid, another wears glasses, a third uses a forearm crutch, and a fourth uses a wheelchair). As the rhyming text continues, it celebrates the diversity of these children not just in terms of their identities, but by commenting on their personalities, their talents, and ultimately their families. At book’s end, the first child is revealed to have two moms when they both pick her up at the end of the school day, the family dog in tow. “Families are families, / but soon you will find / that each can be different— / a ‘best for them’ kind,” reads the accompanying, inclusive text.
Affirming and welcome. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: May 7, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4549-2292-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sterling
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This endearing fairy-tale retelling will bring joy to literary-themed storytimes.
Rather than walking through the forest with delicious pastries for grandma, this Little Red is a poet with endless rhymes.
In this fractured retelling of “Little Red Riding Hood,” a little girl with light-brown skin and long, black hair is bullied for speaking exclusively in rhyme: “Want to ride the swings with me? / Race our bikes or climb a tree?” The other children find this strange, especially Big Brad Wolf, a light-skinned, chinless boy with blue eyes and a shock of brown hair who takes to teasing the girl known as Little Red Rhyming Hood. She puts on a brave face with lines like: “You don’t bother me, Big Brad / Nasty words won’t make me sad.” In reality, she is affected by his bullying. When Big Brad scares the rhyme right out of Little Red and into him, the two must find a way to work together to write a poem for Little Red’s poetry contest. In Bouloubasis’ bold and bright illustrations, the stylized characters come to life, especially Little Red with her charming personality and tough exterior. This refreshing take on a classic fairy tale touches lightly on the subject of bullying; even though Brad’s quick reformation into a poet seems too good to be true, this is an enjoyable picture book nonetheless.
This endearing fairy-tale retelling will bring joy to literary-themed storytimes. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-8075-4597-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
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