Delightfully ambiguous and recursive.
An inquisitive child speculates about the neighbors’ lives in this lively outing, translated from Hebrew.
The first spread depicts a child narrator (coded in cartoon-style, digital illustrations as feminine with long, red hair in a ponytail) approaching a building. The accompanying text reads, “I live in a building that is seven stories high,” and a page turn shows her going inside on the verso. The facing recto depicts seven variously styled mailboxes that correspond with the front doors of each apartment she’ll pass while walking upstairs and bolsters her assertion that each door is “slightly different.” Those differences are, in fact, great: They’re all different colors; some are ornately decorated, while others are plain; and each has a clue that inspires the child to imagine the apartment’s inhabitants. It’s never confirmed whether her visions of neighbors as masked thieves, an explorer, acrobats, a vampire, a pirate and his mermaid spouse, or musicians (this last spread is the only one to, thus far, clearly depict people of color) are imaginary or are part of a fantastic reality. When her mother (who shares her paper-white coloring) and father (who appears Asian) put her to bed, readers may note that her bedroom is filled with details corresponding with her visons of her neighbors. So maybe she was just imagining them? But then a closing spread undermines her earlier statement about her “boring” parents by depicting them as superheroes. This fantastic twist reintroduces the possibility that anyone might reside behind the neighbors’ doors, after all.
Delightfully ambiguous and recursive. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Jan. 8, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3168-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
A nice but not requisite purchase.
A retelling of the classic fairy tale in board-book format and with a Mexican setting.
Though simplified for a younger audience, the text still relates the well-known tale: mean-spirited stepmother, spoiled stepsisters, overworked Cinderella, fairy godmother, glass slipper, charming prince, and, of course, happily-ever-after. What gives this book its flavor is the artwork. Within its Mexican setting, the characters are olive-skinned and dark-haired. Cultural references abound, as when a messenger comes carrying a banner announcing a “FIESTA” in beautiful papel picado. Cinderella is the picture of beauty, with her hair up in ribbons and flowers and her typically Mexican many-layered white dress. The companion volume, Snow White, set in Japan and illustrated by Misa Saburi, follows the same format. The simplified text tells the story of the beautiful princess sent to the forest by her wicked stepmother to be “done away with,” the dwarves that take her in, and, eventually, the happily-ever-after ending. Here too, what gives the book its flavor is the artwork. The characters wear traditional clothing, and the dwarves’ house has the requisite shoji screens, tatami mats and cherry blossoms in the garden. The puzzling question is, why the board-book presentation? Though the text is simplified, it’s still beyond the board-book audience, and the illustrations deserve full-size books.
A nice but not requisite purchase. (Board book/fairy tale. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-7915-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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