Charming and spectacular; a wintry delight.
A fresh snowfall is cause for jubilation in this lovely and winning celebration of the magic of winter.
Simple, evocative text and gorgeous artwork capture the delight of a young, black girl upon waking to a thick cover of freshly fallen snow in this beautifully designed board book. Together with her mother and her dog, she puts in a full day of winter play: gliding across frozen puddles, drawing in the snow, building a snowman, sledding, and, of course, making snow angels. Oliphant’s illustrations are primarily two-page scenes, occasionally broken up into separate, sequential panels, with the text flowing beneath, one line of a rhymed couplet per page. “Clouds glide over hills. / Snow falls. All is still. // Open window. Shout, ‘Hooray!’ / Dash outside. Time to play!” The accompanying illustrations convey the silent stillness of a pre-dawn snowfall as well as the eager excitement of the girl and her canine companion at their first glimpse of snow and as they race outside to revel in it. Text and pictures flow smoothly from scene to scene and from one activity to the next. The illustrations and their subject matter have a beauty, realism, and simplicity that evoke another era and will surely make caregivers nostalgic for the pleasures of their youths. Children, meanwhile, should find this daylong romp in the snow exhilarating.
Charming and spectacular; a wintry delight. (Board book. 18 mos-3)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-56145-855-4
Page Count: 22
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2018
This delightful debut welcomes readers in like a house filled with love.
A 13-year-old biracial girl longs to build the house of her dreams.
For Lou Bulosan-Nelson, normal is her “gigantic extended family squished into Lola’s for every holiday imaginable.” She shares a bedroom with her Filipina mother, Minda—a former interior-design major and current nurse-to-be—in Lola Celina’s San Francisco home. From her deceased white father, Michael, Lou inherited “not-so-Filipino features,” his love for architecture, and some land. Lou’s quietude implies her keen eye for details, but her passion for creating with her hands resonates loudly. Pining for something to claim as her own, she plans to construct a house from the ground up. When her mom considers moving out of state for a potential job and Lou’s land is at risk of being auctioned off, Lou stays resilient, gathering support from both friends and family to make her dream a reality. Respicio authentically depicts the richness of Philippine culture, incorporating Filipino language, insights into Lou’s family history, and well-crafted descriptions of customs, such as the birdlike Tinikling dance and eating kamayan style (with one’s hands), throughout. Lou’s story gives voice to Filipino youth, addressing cultural differences, the importance of bayanihan (community), and the true meaning of home.
This delightful debut welcomes readers in like a house filled with love. (Fiction. 8-13)Pub Date: June 12, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5247-1794-0
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Wendy Lamb/Random
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
A disappointing follow-up.
Inventor Izzy Gizmo is back in this sequel to her eponymous debut (2017).
While busily inventing one day, Izzy receives an invitation from the Genius Guild to their annual convention. Though Izzy’s “inventions…don’t always work,” Grandpa (apparently her sole caregiver) encourages her to go. The next day they undertake a long journey “over fields, hills, and waves” and “mile after mile” to isolated Technoff Isle. There, Izzy finds she must compete against four other kids to create the most impressive machine. The colorful, detail-rich illustrations chronicle how poor Izzy is thwarted at every turn by Abi von Lavish, a Veruca Salt–esque character who takes all the supplies for herself. But when Abi abandons her project, Izzy salvages the pieces and decides to take Grandpa’s advice to create a machine that “can really be put to good use.” A frustrated Izzy’s impatience with a friend almost foils her chance at the prize, but all’s well that ends well. There’s much to like: Brown-skinned inventor girl Izzy is an appealing character, it’s great to see a nurturing brown-skinned male caregiver, the idea of an “Invention Convention” is fun, and a sustainable-energy invention is laudable. However, these elements don’t make up for rhymes that often feel forced and a lackluster story.
A disappointing follow-up. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-68263-164-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020
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