Little eyes will like the stimulating visuals. Skip the words.
Fine-arts masterpieces presented to showcase properties and possibilities of color.
Reproductions shine on the page, though no titles or artist credits appear until the backmatter. František Kupka’s Disks of Newton is a colorful explosion; Jasper Johns’ Nines combines simplicity with nuance in a three-primary design. However, Baill’s definitions and explanations sink the project. Peter Paone’s Someone’s Topiary and Victor Gabriel Gilbert’s Poppies in a Field both effectively demonstrate exciting ways that red and green can offset and enhance each other, but the crucial term complementary is missing, as are the other two complementary pairs (yellow/purple, orange/blue). Displaying silver and gold, the text claims that “shimmery shades that are perfectly polished are called metallic”—but any hue can shimmer, depending on material and light; those two are metallic because they’re metal, not because they’re shiny. The explanation that two primaries mix to make each secondary receives a mere Venn diagram as demonstration. Two reddish-brown goldfish by Roy Lichtenstein are nowhere near a primary red but are absurdly called “rosy” and “primary.” Minuscule print and thumbnails arranged in columns (not rows) in the backmatter demand extra effort to identify the works. A stumbling author’s note mentions the Black Lives Matter movement because “privilege and injustice [are] inherent in skin color,” the word inherent implying that racial justice is impossible and that racism’s caused by literal hue.
Little eyes will like the stimulating visuals. Skip the words. (project ideas, works cited) (Informational picture book. 2-6)Pub Date: May 11, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-61689-966-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
Lovely, if a bit frustrating.
The double meaning of the title of this French import will likely be lost on young readers who do not know that “plume” means “feather,” since “Plume” is the name of the black cat who stalks mysteriously through the pages, clearly with evil designs on the birds portrayed.
As with her earlier picture book Blue Hour (2017), Simler portrays her subject matter—birds and their feathers—in finely rendered, realistic detail. However, the birds chosen are not always specifically named, and many species are not found in North America, lessening the book’s appeal for readers on this continent. For example, the nuthatch, jay, and kingfisher featured in the book are Eurasian species, so there is little chance of a child in the U.S. finding one of these feathers or being able to identify them. A gull is simply identified as “Seagull,” likewise for the highly stylized owl; the “Eagle” is clearly a bald eagle. The attractiveness of the illustrations compensates in large part for these flaws. The black cat’s presence is charmingly hinted at in each illustration, sometimes just as an ear, a tail, or a whisker peeking from the edge of the spread, sometimes almost hidden behind the bird. On the last spread, Plume is completely visible, clutching a feather and saying innocently, “Oh…me? / I collect feathers… //…because I love overstuffed pillows. / I am a dreamer cat. / They call me Plume.”
Lovely, if a bit frustrating. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-8028-5492-6
Page Count: 42
Publisher: Eerdmans
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
Share this sturdy, age-appropriate board book freely—just don’t expect a quiet storytime
Just enough information for toddlers—and noisy too!
The forest of the title is the rainforest. A close-up of a gorilla nibbling on a leaf invites readers to explore this habitat. On the first spread a chimp is shown trying to catch a raindrop. The spare text reads, “Raindrops splash.” The following six spreads follow a pattern: an adjective that describes the animal shown is followed by a sound that animal might make: “Singing frogs hum.” Preschoolers will want to imitate the animals’ noisy behaviors and “hoot” like the chimpanzees, “squawk” like the parrots, “munch” like that gorilla, and “thud” like a herd of elephants. Order is restored on the final spread: “Night air whispers”—illustrated by the elephant and parrot, now sleeping. The verbs are emphasized by larger, colored type. The simple repetition expands young children’s vocabularies without distracting and wordy explanations. Despite all the noise, a fair amount of information about the African rainforest is relayed through detailed, if somewhat idealized, pictures. Dogi created the layered paintings using an airbrush, with details added by hand. Oversized tropical plants, decorative butterflies, and animals stand out against clean white backgrounds.
Share this sturdy, age-appropriate board book freely—just don’t expect a quiet storytime . (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: March 12, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-56846-318-6
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Creative Editions/Creative Company
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2019
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
