An endearing version that appeals to children and adults alike.
Edward Lear’s famous lovers sail away for a year and a day in this lushly illustrated picture-book edition.
Voake’s signature pen-and-watercolor style works perfectly with Lear’s prose, enabling her to pay homage to the original tale while also constructing a whimsical world all of her own making. Deft use of double-page spreads allows for illustration of small moments not explicitly stated in the poem, such as the purchase of the pea-green boat that takes the Owl and the Pussy-cat away to their new life and the search for the Piggy-wig from whom they purchase the wedding ring. The soft color palette, with soothing shades of green and blue in the sea and delicate pinks evoking the late-afternoon sky, creates a dreamlike quality that makes this version ideal for bedtime. Voake’s light, capable pen strokes conjure the bustling activity of the seaport from which the lovers embark and the gorgeous tropical island populated with all races of people where they finally marry. Most affecting, however, are the spreads on the sea, when the Owl and the Pussy-cat are alone beneath a blanket of stars. While children may overlook the loving glances exchanged between the animals, adults reading along are sure to notice them and smile with remembrance.
An endearing version that appeals to children and adults alike. (Picture book. 2-6)Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7636-9080-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2016
Unimpeachable.
A nearly wordless exploration of Aesop’s fable of symbiotic mercy that is nothing short of masterful.
A mouse, narrowly escaping an owl at dawn, skitters up what prove to be a male lion’s tail and back. Lion releases Mouse in a moment of bemused gentility and—when subsequently ensnared in a poacher’s rope trap—reaps the benefit thereof. Pinkney successfully blends anthropomorphism and realism, depicting Lion’s massive paws and Mouse’s pink inner ears along with expressions encompassing the quizzical, hapless and nearly smiling. He plays, too, with perspective, alternating foreground views of Mouse amid tall grasses with layered panoramas of the Serengeti plain and its multitudinous wildlife. Mouse, befitting her courage, is often depicted heroically large relative to Lion. Spreads in watercolor and pencil employ a palette of glowing amber, mouse-brown and blue-green. Artist-rendered display type ranges from a protracted “RRROAARRRRRRRRR” to nine petite squeaks from as many mouselings. If the five cubs in the back endpapers are a surprise, the mouse family of ten, perched on the ridge of father lion’s back, is sheer delight.
Unimpeachable. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-316-01356-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2009
IN THE NEWS
Mixed-race children certainly deserve mirror books, but they also deserve excellent text and illustrations. This one misses...
This tan-skinned, freckle-faced narrator extols her own virtues while describing the challenges of being of mixed race.
Protagonist Lilly appears on the cover, and her voluminous curly, twirly hair fills the image. Throughout the rhyming narrative, accompanied by cartoonish digital illustrations, Lilly brags on her dark skin (that isn’t very), “frizzy, wild” hair, eyebrows, intellect, and more. Her five friends present black, Asian, white (one blonde, one redheaded), and brown (this last uses a wheelchair). This array smacks of tokenism, since the protagonist focuses only on self-promotion, leaving no room for the friends’ character development. Lilly describes how hurtful racial microaggressions can be by recalling questions others ask her like “What are you?” She remains resilient and says that even though her skin and hair make her different, “the way that I look / Is not all I’m about.” But she spends so much time talking about her appearance that this may be hard for readers to believe. The rhyming verse that conveys her self-celebration is often clumsy and forced, resulting in a poorly written, plotless story for which the internal illustrations fall far short of the quality of the cover image.
Mixed-race children certainly deserve mirror books, but they also deserve excellent text and illustrations. This one misses the mark on both counts. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 14, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-63233-170-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Eifrig
Review Posted Online: June 10, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
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