Captivating visuals will prompt conversations about the feelings and choices of victim, friend, and community
Glynn introduces Rain Boy and Sun Kidd—and then presents children’s contrasting reactions to their essences.
The young people are glum or angry when Rain Boy, depicted as a puffy, blue cloud, drips on their outdoor play. Sun, a glowing girl of color, is welcomed happily, however. The tension between the two climaxes during her birthday, when Rain Boy’s presence floods the basement, threatening the cake and presents. The guests encircle the cloud, crying: “Rain, Rain, go away!” Sun escapes to her room. Glynn’s watercolor, cut-paper, pastel, and colored-pencil caricatures and tableaux channel both a delightfully childlike aesthetic and emotionally charged expressionism. Sun’s bed is draped in golden curtains in the upper corner of a space defined by the strong diagonals of a wrought-iron balcony and foreshortened ladder. A black, starry sky frames the yellow/orange interior, which is dominated by a Calder-esque mobile. After Rain Boy storms off, the downpour continues until the children start appreciating both one another and puddles. This coaxes the celestial protagonists outside, where a rainbow appears: “So next time you’re feeling down and your world is dark and gray…just look up.” As convenient and lovely as this spread is, the message does not quite apply to Rain Boy, nor is it completely transferable to an ostracized reader, thus sapping the book of some of its logic and power.
Captivating visuals will prompt conversations about the feelings and choices of victim, friend, and community .(Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: April 21, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4521-7280-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.
Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, tender and charming experience to read aloud or together.
A clueless duckling tries to make a new friend.
He is confused by this peculiar-looking duck, who has a long tail, doesn’t waddle and likes to be alone. No matter how explicitly the creature denies he is a duck and announces that he is a cat, the duckling refuses to acknowledge the facts. When this creature expresses complete lack of interest in playing puddle stomp, the little ducking goes off and plays on his own. But the cat is not without remorse for rejecting an offered friendship. Of course it all ends happily, with the two new friends enjoying each other’s company. Bramsen employs brief sentences and the simplest of rhymes to tell this slight tale. The two heroes are meticulously drawn with endearing, expressive faces and body language, and their feathers and fur appear textured and touchable. Even the detailed tree bark and grass seem three-dimensional. There are single- and double-page spreads, panels surrounded by white space and circular and oval frames, all in a variety of eye-pleasing juxtapositions. While the initial appeal is solidly visual, young readers will get the gentle message that friendship is not something to take for granted but is to be embraced with open arms—or paws and webbed feet.
A sweet, tender and charming experience to read aloud or together. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-375-86990-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Nov. 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2012
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