What happens when an active toddler gets a pair of brand-new shows? Lots! Mama lets Baby chose new shoes “white as light” with a “stripe of blue.” The swell new white shoes are so “high-jumping, fast-running [and] fine looking” that Mama and Baby take a walk. Along the way, Baby draws with red chalk, spins in green grass, steps on purple plums, hops across fresh yellow crosswalk paint and splashes in muddy brown puddles. Every time Mama tries to stop Baby, his new shoes “just go, go, go.” By the time Mama and Baby get home the new white shoes aren’t white any more, but “colored bright in many hues.” Lighthearted multi-hued watercolor illustrations show an exuberant Baby doing everything a wee boy will do when he’s got spiffy new shoes. Fast-moving rhyme and playful illustrations invite kids on the go to scuff, scrape and have a blast breaking them in. (Picture book. 2-6)
Pub Date: May 1, 2006
ISBN: 1-58234-684-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2006
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A young child explores the unlimited potential inherent in all humans.
“Have you ever wondered why you are here?” asks the second-person narration. There is no one like you. Maybe you’re here to make a difference with your uniqueness; maybe you will speak for those who can’t or use your gifts to shine a light into the darkness. The no-frills, unrhymed narrative encourages readers to follow their hearts and tap into their limitless potential to be anything and do anything. The precisely inked and colored artwork plays with perspective from the first double-page spread, in which the child contemplates a mountain (or maybe an iceberg) in their hands. Later, they stand on a ladder to place white spots on tall, red mushrooms. The oversized flora and fauna seem to symbolize the presumptively insurmountable, reinforcing the book’s message that anything is possible. This quiet read, with its sophisticated central question, encourages children to reach for their untapped potential while reminding them it won’t be easy—they will make messes and mistakes—but the magic within can help overcome falls and failures. It’s unlikely that members of the intended audience have begun to wonder about their life’s purpose, but this life-affirming mood piece has honorable intentions. The child, accompanied by an adorable piglet and sporting overalls and a bird-beaked cap made of leaves, presents white.
More gift book than storybook, this is a meaningful addition to nursery bookshelves . (Picture book. 2-8)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-946873-75-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: May 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2019
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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The mother-daughter team of Anne and Lizzy Rockwell (Thanksgiving Day, 1999, etc.) presents their fourth visit to Mrs. Madoff’s busy, bright, and active classroom. Today is career day, when students bring special visitors to school to talk about their work. It may be scary for a child to introduce his or her guest, but the first-person narrator does a fine job of introducing his bulldozer-driving dad, Mr. Lopez. Charlie’s visitor is his mom, a judge; Kate’s dad plays bass in an orchestra at night, practices, and handles child-care during the day, while his wife works in a bank. The multicultural class meets a writer, a paleontologist, a school-crossing guard, a nurse, a veterinarian, a sanitation worker, a carpenter, a grocery store manager, and even a student teacher’s college professor. A full-page illustration shows each worker on the job; smaller details facing these pages introduce them and their host children to readers as well as to the rest of Mrs. Madoff’s class. A sparkling, family-centered, no-threat introduction to considerations of what might be fun for little ones to do when they grow up. (Picture book. 2-5)
Pub Date: May 31, 2000
ISBN: 0-06-027565-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2000
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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