Mending walls for the nursery crowd.
Rhyme, rhythm, and simple art—all including references to walls—show children expressing different emotions and behaviors.
The pages are sturdy and shiny, with plenty of bright-white negative space for the colorful artwork and sparse words. All words are printed in spindly, black capitals in a typeface that emulates hand-lettering. The text scans well and uses a fairly complex rhyme scheme, with each “verse” moving across several pages of artwork. The text cleverly begins by showing literal kinds of walls: “chalk wall / spill wall / rock wall / hill wall.” As it progresses, figurative meanings of walls appear. Loose, thin black lines and bright watercolors show racially diverse people throughout, initially happily engaged in activities involving walls. The text is already predicting trouble ahead on a double-page spread that shows children cooperatively designing and building what eventually becomes a life-sized castle of gray brick. If careful attention is not given to the art’s details, it is easy to miss the growing tension between the light-skinned kid in the shirt with vertical blue stripes and the ruddy-faced kid in the shirt with horizontal blue stripes. The latter child apparently enlists others in cruelty to the former, but the bully’s increasing megalomania leads eventually to loneliness and isolation. There is an interesting balance between the fantasy of children building a life-sized castle and the reality of their feelings and behaviors. The end reassures readers that reconciliation is possible.
Mending walls for the nursery crowd. (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-77147-373-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Owlkids Books
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
Treacle drips from every page. Find self-esteem elsewhere.
The voice of an omniscient narrator, who may or may not be a caregiver, speaks directly to an unhappy child with an invitation to a very special place.
The child follows directions to the beautiful title isle “just across the bay.” Ferried across by a toy elephant in a sailboat, the child is given an enthusiastic welcome by more adorable animals and some other children. The little one swims in a waterfall, rides a giant eagle, relaxes in a hammock, and happily engages with some of the other children. Several of the activities are stereotypically girl-associated, and the other children appear to be girls with varying skin tones and hair textures; the little protagonist has light skin and a brown pageboy and is only suggested as female. After elaborate entertainments and a sweet feast, the child is assured that “someone loves you very, very, very much” before being borne safely home. Deep purple, bright pastel pink, and yellow watercolors dominate the color palette, creating a magical, otherworldly atmosphere. But it is also somewhat creepy as well. The Isle of You exists only for the protagonist’s happiness, even the other children there, who appear to have no existence in the real world. Apparently intended to build self-esteem and comfort, it seems to encourage self-centeredness instead, as does the ending play on the pronunciation of the title words.
Treacle drips from every page. Find self-esteem elsewhere. (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: Dec. 11, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-7636-9116-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
It’s nothing new, but it’s also clearly heartfelt.
A love song from parents to their child.
This title will seem quite similar to the many others about parents’ deep love for their children. The text is wholly composed of first-person declarations of parental love, and it’s juxtaposed with illustrations of the child with one or both parents. It’s not always clear who the “I” speaking is, and there are a few pages that instead use “we.” Most sentences begin with “I love you more” phrasing to communicate that nothing could undermine parental love: “I love you more than all the sleepless nights…and all the early, tired mornings.” The accompanying pictures depict the child as a baby with weary parents. Later spreads show the child growing up, and the phrasing shifts away from the challenges of parenting to its joys and to attempts to quantify love: “I love you more than all the blades of grass at the park…and all the soccer that we played.” Throughout, Bell’s illustrations use pastel tones and soft visual texture to depict cozy, wholesome scenes that are largely redundant of the straightforward, warm text. They feature a brown-haired family with a mother, father, and child, who all appear to be white (though the father has skin that’s a shade darker than the others’).
It’s nothing new, but it’s also clearly heartfelt. (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: Aug. 14, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0652-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
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