Just doesn’t compare to Shelley Moore Thomas and Jennifer Plecas’ similarly themed Get Well, Good Knight (2002) or even to...
A sick boy’s devoted friends try to help him feel better.
Dog lies on Boy’s feet to help him get warm, then shares his bone with him. (Boy eats his mom’s chicken soup instead.) Bird comes calling, but Dog tells him Boy is sick, and he flies off, returning with a slice of pizza to help him get well. (Boy doesn’t eat that either.) Feeling better the next day, Boy and Dog head to the tree house and find Bird sick (too much pizza). At this point, the minimalist story devolves even further, losing the slight humor of the first part. “Boy and Dog sit with Bird. // Then Bird is fine. / But Dog is sick.…Boy and Bird sit with Dog. // Then they nap. / Dog jumps up. ‘I am fine,’ he says.” Upon which, the three happily play together with a ball. Unlike its precursor, Boy, Bird, and Dog (2011), this one feels (and reads) like a Dick and Jane primer, stilted language, thin plot and all. McPhail’s ink-and-watercolor artwork depicts the three friends in the softly colored, rounded vignettes on each page that, along with the 64 simple words and short sentences, help those new to reading decode the words.
Just doesn’t compare to Shelley Moore Thomas and Jennifer Plecas’ similarly themed Get Well, Good Knight (2002) or even to the trio’s prior adventure. (Early reader. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8234-2424-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: July 25, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2012
The writing isn’t stellar, but the love depicted between the titular characters sure is.
A father and his daughter share a day full of love, play, and imagination.
The pair, described as the ultimate “daddy-daughter / power-combo superhero team,” do everything together on their special day: sip morning smoothies, play basketball, splash in the rain, and even attend a protest. Readers see a father who isn’t afraid to wear his dreadlocks in a bow, attend a tea party, or pretend to be a princess. He freely follows his daughter’s lead, breaking apart misguided stereotypes of how fathers are supposed to interact with girl children. Duchess’ illustrations center a Black father—who wears a kente shirt—and daughter and include background characters who are racially diverse, including one wearing a hijab and another with skin depigmentation. The closeness and mutual admiration between dad and daughter look and feel realistic, whether it’s the way Dad gazes at his daughter thoughtfully or tucks her gently into bed. One gets the feeling that this dynamic duo is unstoppable, that they can be whomever they want to be, and that their bond is magical. The bright digital artwork buoys the sometimes-rhyming text, which, while sweet, makes for a stilted read-aloud with phrasing that is at times choppy with an uneven cadence. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
The writing isn’t stellar, but the love depicted between the titular characters sure is. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: May 3, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-316-05526-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Jan. 24, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet and well-meaning lesson in personification and metaphor, but this picture book fails to shine.
The sun sends the world and its inhabitants warm thoughts for peace, unity, and positivity.
A smiling sun shines down on each double-page spread, just as the moon did in Storms and Pavlović’s previous book, Moon Wishes (2019). Using the refrain “if I were the sun,” the narrator describes the sun’s movement from sunrise to sunset throughout the seasons of the year. The sun is personified as a serene explorer, muse, and comforter who lovingly wakes the world with “a gentle morning song” and ends each day with peaceful rest. In between rising and setting, the sun explores “every corner of this wondrous earth.” Alas, the narrative is disappointingly disjointed—the sun flits among pages that depict African wildlife, a school of smiling fish swimming up toward the sun, and a bear fishing in a river. Looking at the world from the sun’s point of view, the narrator is better able to “delight in all our differences”—the accompanying illustration shows 11 disparate birds perched in the same tree. Meanwhile, human diversity is portrayed on other pages: Happy children—some with brown skin, others with pink skin—make snow angels; a man using a wheelchair sits at a harvest table; and an Asian-presenting man wearing a conical hat walks across marshland. Pavlović’s loose mixed-media, colored-pencil, and ink illustrations use warm colors and are as consistently uplifting as Storms’ pretty but desultory word pictures. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A sweet and well-meaning lesson in personification and metaphor, but this picture book fails to shine. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: May 3, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-77306-450-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022
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