A solid and accessible children’s introduction to SAD undermined by some uninspired illustrations.
A child describes being affected by Seasonal Affective Disorder in this illustrated introduction to the subject for young readers.
Granger’s book introduces brown-haired, pale-skinned Sam, who needs the sun to form happy feelings. Where Sam lives, shorter days in the winter mean longer hours of darkness. Sam feels like his battery is drained; the youngster just doesn’t want to do anything; he has no energy during those months. “It is hard to get up without the sun waking me,” Sam explains. “It is like being there but not being there.” The author ably captures what seasonal depression feels like through these kid-friendly terms, keeping the sentences short to make comprehension smoother for emergent readers. (This stays true even when Sam introduces science terms like serotonin, dopamine, and melatonin.) In addition to outlining the chemical reasons for Seasonal Affective Disorder, Sam explains why the Earth has seasons and notes that children who live in the other hemisphere get SAD during Sam’s own happiest months. The child also describes coping strategies, including gratitude journaling, talking about positive things, and finding purpose in helping others. While Granger breaks everything down very approachably, the density of text on most pages may stymie the elementary school readers to whom the book seems addressed. The flat, digital cartoon illustrations, which feature an ethnically diverse cast, are hit-and-miss; the depiction of the more depressed Sam in a grayish hue is quite effective, but other elements initially seem not to go with the text at all, such as an image of two previously unintroduced older children eating junk food (a closer read links the image to a discussion of SAD’s effects on eating habits). However, the words come through well, and children who experience SAD will find comfort knowing they are not alone.
A solid and accessible children’s introduction to SAD undermined by some uninspired illustrations.Pub Date: July 11, 2023
ISBN: 9798886858884
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing
Review Posted Online: June 20, 2024
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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