A gentle story, meant to comfort, has a plentiful supply of bathos. The angels are preparing a sapphire blue, silk dress for Elise, but she’s not ready yet, and neither is the dress. Elise must finish her teaching and her time on earth, and the angels must find blue pearls for “her earthly heart and her heavenly soul”—although pearls don’t come in blue. The head angel finds the smallest oyster, scoops up its blue aura—“for angels can do such things”—and tucks it inside the oyster. With patience, the angels wait and the round-faced Angelica brings angel courage for Elise to spend one last week with her children and then finds the blue pearls that enable her welcome to heaven. The illustrations in many shades of blue, rose, and gold are comforting and reassuring; the text is heartfelt, just bordering on the mawkish. A very formal, somewhat prissy style begs the question of audience. God and the afterlife are implied rather than stated (as the higher power and as the angelic realm), but plainly this is more suited to a religious interpreter. Warfel says in a note that the story is inspired by a dream she had when her daughter was dying of cancer, and some of the royalties will go to a London bereavement center. Children do not need to know about that, however—the more important issue is whether they can find solace here. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 2001
ISBN: 1-902283-78-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Barefoot Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2001
A book that will make young dog-owners smile in recognition and confirm dogless readers' worst suspicions about the mayhem caused by pets, even winsome ones. Sam, who bears passing resemblance to an affable golden retriever, is praised for fetching the family newspaper, and goes on to fetch every other newspaper on the block. In the next story, only the children love Sam's swimming; he is yelled at by lifeguards and fishermen alike when he splashes through every watering hole he can find. Finally, there is woe to the entire family when Sam is bored and lonely for one long night. Boland has an essential message, captured in both both story and illustrations of this Easy-to-Read: Kids and dogs belong together, especially when it's a fun-loving canine like Sam. An appealing tale. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-8037-1530-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1996
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions.
Ellis, known for her illustrations for Colin Meloy’s Wildwood series, here riffs on the concept of “home.”
Shifting among homes mundane and speculative, contemporary and not, Ellis begins and ends with views of her own home and a peek into her studio. She highlights palaces and mansions, but she also takes readers to animal homes and a certain famously folkloric shoe (whose iconic Old Woman manages a passel of multiethnic kids absorbed in daring games). One spread showcases “some folks” who “live on the road”; a band unloads its tour bus in front of a theater marquee. Ellis’ compelling ink and gouache paintings, in a palette of blue-grays, sepia and brick red, depict scenes ranging from mythical, underwater Atlantis to a distant moonscape. Another spread, depicting a garden and large building under connected, transparent domes, invites readers to wonder: “Who in the world lives here? / And why?” (Earth is seen as a distant blue marble.) Some of Ellis’ chosen depictions, oddly juxtaposed and stripped of any historical or cultural context due to the stylized design and spare text, become stereotypical. “Some homes are boats. / Some homes are wigwams.” A sailing ship’s crew seems poised to land near a trio of men clad in breechcloths—otherwise unidentified and unremarked upon.
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6529-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
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