Almond aims at a younger audience than usual, but crafts a tale at least as emotionally complex as any of his heavier outings. Young Lizzie’s widowed dad has regressed back to childhood—to the point where she has to force him to eat breakfast, can’t get him out of pajamas and even frets about leaving him alone in the house while she’s at school. Worse, he’s constructed wings, taken to eating bugs and worms on the sly to get his weight down and entered the Great Human Bird Competition in order to “make me mark at last.” Building on this depressing premise, the author unexpectedly fashions a buoyant story in which “It doesn’t matter if we fly or if we fall. We’ve got each other. We’re doing it together. That’s all that matters.” The characters sport silly names like Doreen Doody and Mr. Poop, and Dunbar’s colored illustrations, which appear on nearly every spread, evoke Quentin Blake. Readers will definitely come away with mixed feelings—not necessarily a bad thing, to be sure. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: April 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-7636-3667-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2008
A resonant story unfolds quickly under Oppenheim’s sure hand. Yanni, a boy living in a Greek village, has the task of driving a beat-up wagon, collecting garbage for his father, who has taken temporary work in Germany. Yanni’s playmates are cruel to him, jeering at the cart and the poor donkey who pulls it. His mother is sympathetic, but—gratifyingly—it is Yanni who makes changes and alters the depressing situation. A family photograph persuades him that paint, a sign, and other improvements will make the wagon something to be proud of. Although the setting is unusual, the family’s drastic financial problems, as well as the boy’s dilemma, are rendered at a universal level. The well-told story is accompanied by oil paintings that show a dearth of detail; backgrounds are indistinct, yet every picture evokes the mood as well as the actions. The somber tones used early in the book give way to the cheerful blue of the newly painted wagon; the troubles are not over, but it’s clear that Yanni and his family will more than endure. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1999
ISBN: 1-56397-668-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A picture book for the very young that attempts to grapple with the sorrow of coping with the death of a loved one. The text has so few words that readers and listeners will have to work hard to plumb its significance. “Friends together/laughing,/loving./Sad friends leaving,/wondering,/weeping.” The pictures show a gray-haired woman, a younger woman and man, a boy, a girl, and a dog in the sun; the children and the dog play on the beach, and then, as the sky grows dark, watch a boat in the distance. “Goodbye boat./It’s lost from sight.” The children are seen separate and alone in the twilight, and then in their beds. Soon it is morning again, and they play along the shore. “Yet when the boat has gone from view/it’s surely sailing somewhere new” and the scene is of a boat in full sun, with the older woman on board, and a dove flying in the golden light. The illustrations are hieratic and based on full, rounded geometric forms: the colors are beautifully rendered from light to dark, and each page has tiny boxes of details, almost like a bit of stop-action film, along its borders. With the aid of an imaginative adult, this book may spark comforting discussion in the face of losing a loved one; young readers may find it too abstract for perusing alone. (Picture book. 3-7)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-8028-5186-X
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Eerdmans
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
