It is an earned triumph when Love prevails.
A gentle parable of how Mother Nature introduced human foibles and strengths to the world.
Based on a 2004 musical composition by renowned lyricist Lampert and jazz legend Wynton Marsalis, this glimpse into humankind is both fragile and deep. Puybaret’s acrylic illustrations on linen set a dreamlike mood. Mother Nature, draped in gossamer blossoms and reaching root tendrils, watches over all that grows and walks the Earth. She must also change the seasons—turning “noses red and cheeks rosy” during winter and being sure to shake “the sand from dreams” and “honey-up the bees” when the time is right. But for all her responsibilities, Mother Nature is lonely. She longs for children of her own. So she makes her first child, Fear (a name that is pleasant because it rhymes with “dear”). But when she looks to humankind to care for Fear while she is busy spinning the seasons, she sees cowardice has spread. To restore balance, she creates other children: Envy, Hate, Greed, and Fickle; each one no better than the last. Luckily, through wise council with the winds, she finally creates two tiny twins, both named Love. Though the prose has exquisite touches, some delicate moments seem buried in excess. However, Puybaret’s metaphorical illustrations are a good match, depicting a multicultural cast of humans aping the actions of Mother Nature’s ill-conceived children amid stylized backdrops.
It is an earned triumph when Love prevails. (Picture book. 5-10)Pub Date: May 3, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4169-5373-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2016
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books.
Curious about the Big Wide World outside his Sasquatch community, Hugo makes a friend who is of it.
Sasquatch Hugo’s bedroom is inside a cave and possesses the charming feature of a small stream running through it that he can sail his little toy boat on. It’s cool, but he yearns to see the Big Wide World. When he asks his smart friend Gigi if a Sasquatch might become a sailor, she says it’s possible but would be difficult—the primary rule of their people is to not be seen by Humans. Then, in everyone’s favorite Hide and Go Sneak class, which is held outside, a Human appears; Hugo laughs at the sight, drawing Human attention in a taboo-breaking mistake. Shortly after, Hugo’s toy boat floats into the cave with a Human toy—soon, it’s facilitating a pen-pal–type relationship that’s derailed when Hugo confesses to being a Sasquatch and Human Boone, a budding cryptozoologist, doesn’t believe him. How Hugo and Boone resolve this misapprehension and become friends in a joint search for the Ogopogo concludes this series opener. Potter keeps the third-person narrative tightly focused on Hugo’s perspective, and the details she uses to flesh out the Sasquatch world are delightfully playful. Sala’s drawings depict a homey Sasquatch cavern community, Boone as a freckled, white boy, and Hugo as a hairily benevolent behemoth.
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books. (final art unseen) (Fantasy. 5-9)Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2859-4
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
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