More than most adoption books, this one is love-it or hate-it, as its metaphor is likely to sail over most children’s heads...
A God-centric adoption story using a grafted apple tree as a metaphor.
Four opening spreads set the scene with softly colored watercolor artwork: an apple orchard, an idyllic place where the often anthropomorphized trees bear fruit of all colors and tastes and where all the trees are happy under the loving care of the farmer who planted them. But the fifth introduces Little Tree, who yearns to bear her own fruit but cannot. When she asks the farmer what her purpose could be, he reassures her that, having planted her, he has not forgotten her. One fall, the farmer grafts a limb from Green Pippin, whose branches are too weak, onto Little Tree, who wonders if she could love these apples but trusts the farmer. Come spring, all her doubts are banished, and she is grafted several more times, eventually sporting apples of many different colors, all of them loved. The final spread is a close-up of Little Tree and her apples, the only text Isaiah 49:16—“Behold, I have carved you on the palms of my hands.” A final author’s note describes Marquez’s inspiration for the story, which also led her to adopt children of her own. Nowhere else, though, does the book break from the apple-tree metaphor to talk about adopting children.
More than most adoption books, this one is love-it or hate-it, as its metaphor is likely to sail over most children’s heads and shows adoption as only a Plan B. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Jan. 14, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-9857932-4-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Cupola Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2013
A nicely inventive little morality “tail” for newly independent readers.
Two little rats decide to show the world how tough they are, with unpredictable results.
Louie and Ralphie Ratso want to be just like their single dad, Big Lou: tough! They know that “tough” means doing mean things to other animals, like stealing Chad Badgerton’s hat. Chad Badgerton is a big badger, so taking that hat from him proves that Louie and Ralphie are just as tough as they want to be. However, it turns out that Louie and Ralphie have just done a good deed instead of a bad one: Chad Badgerton had taken that hat from little Tiny Crawley, a mouse, so when Tiny reclaims it, they are celebrated for goodness rather than toughness. Sadly, every attempt Louie and Ralphie make at doing mean things somehow turns nice. What’s a little boy rat supposed to do to be tough? Plus, they worry about what their dad will say when he finds out how good they’ve been. But wait! Maybe their dad has some other ideas? LaReau keeps the action high and completely appropriate for readers embarking on chapter books. Each of the first six chapters features a new, failed attempt by Louie and Ralphie to be mean, and the final, seventh chapter resolves everything nicely. The humor springs from their foiled efforts and their reactions to their failures. Myers’ sprightly grayscale drawings capture action and characters and add humorous details, such as the Ratsos’ “unwelcome” mat.
A nicely inventive little morality “tail” for newly independent readers. (Fiction. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7636-7636-0
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
This multigenerational snuggle will encourage the sharing of old memories and the creation of new ones.
Hill and Bobbiesi send a humungous hug from grandmothers to their granddaughters everywhere.
Delicate cartoon art adds details to the rhyming text showing multigenerational commonalities. “You and I are alike in such wonderful ways. / You will see more and more as you grow” (as grandmother and granddaughter enjoy the backyard together); “I wobbled uncertainly just as you did / whenever I tried something new” (as a toddler takes first steps); “And if a bad dream woke me up in the night, / I snuggled up with my lovey too” (grandmother kisses granddaughter, who clutches a plush narwhal). Grandmother-granddaughter pairs share everyday joys like eating ice cream, dancing “in the rain,” and making “up silly games.” Although some activities skew stereotypically feminine (baking, yoga), a grandmother helps with a quintessential volcano experiment (this pair presents black, adding valuable STEM representation), another cheers on a young wheelchair athlete (both present Asian), and a third, wearing a hijab, accompanies her brown-skinned granddaughter on a peace march, as it is “important to speak out for what you believe.” The message of unconditional love is clear throughout: “When you need me, I’ll be there to listen and care. / There is nothing that keeps us apart.” The finished book will include “stationery…for a special letter from Grandma to you!”
This multigenerational snuggle will encourage the sharing of old memories and the creation of new ones. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-7282-0623-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
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