In this tale, the rich bonds of family and friendship feel as warm and cozy as a comfy wrap.
We can travel far, but we never really leave home.
When Peter is very young, his grandmother knits him a “too big” sweater, and he wears the thick, purple wool garment daily for years. When he outgrows their seaside village, he leaves to see the world. Peter embarks on adventures, still wearing the sweater and corresponding with his grandmother. Years later, he returns home to discover his grandmother is gone (presumably deceased) and a new family lives next door. They’ve also traveled from afar to this place with their young son, Little P. Peter and the boy become friends, Little P telling Peter about his former home and reminiscing wistfully about his own grandmother. Peter recalls all his journeys as he reviews the letters his grandmother lovingly saved. Peter dons his sweater “for what he knew would be the last time” because he’s decided to give it to Little P, another long-distance traveler who needs to be “reminded of home.” This Canadian import’s themes of close friendship and intergenerational family connections should resonate with children, though its nostalgic feel has an adult sensibility that may go over their heads. The delicately colored gouache, pencil, and digital illustrations are warmly emotional. Peter is brown-skinned; his grandmother and Little P and his family are lighter-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
In this tale, the rich bonds of family and friendship feel as warm and cozy as a comfy wrap. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: May 16, 2023
ISBN: 9781459834736
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
A nicely inventive little morality “tail” for newly independent readers.
Two little rats decide to show the world how tough they are, with unpredictable results.
Louie and Ralphie Ratso want to be just like their single dad, Big Lou: tough! They know that “tough” means doing mean things to other animals, like stealing Chad Badgerton’s hat. Chad Badgerton is a big badger, so taking that hat from him proves that Louie and Ralphie are just as tough as they want to be. However, it turns out that Louie and Ralphie have just done a good deed instead of a bad one: Chad Badgerton had taken that hat from little Tiny Crawley, a mouse, so when Tiny reclaims it, they are celebrated for goodness rather than toughness. Sadly, every attempt Louie and Ralphie make at doing mean things somehow turns nice. What’s a little boy rat supposed to do to be tough? Plus, they worry about what their dad will say when he finds out how good they’ve been. But wait! Maybe their dad has some other ideas? LaReau keeps the action high and completely appropriate for readers embarking on chapter books. Each of the first six chapters features a new, failed attempt by Louie and Ralphie to be mean, and the final, seventh chapter resolves everything nicely. The humor springs from their foiled efforts and their reactions to their failures. Myers’ sprightly grayscale drawings capture action and characters and add humorous details, such as the Ratsos’ “unwelcome” mat.
A nicely inventive little morality “tail” for newly independent readers. (Fiction. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7636-7636-0
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
A retro-futuristic romp, literally and figuratively screwy.
Robo-parents Diode and Lugnut present daughter Cathode with a new little brother—who requires, unfortunately, some assembly.
Arriving in pieces from some mechanistic version of Ikea, little Flange turns out to be a cute but complicated tyke who immediately falls apart…and then rockets uncontrollably about the room after an overconfident uncle tinkers with his basic design. As a squad of helpline techies and bevies of neighbors bearing sludge cake and like treats roll in, the cluttered and increasingly crowded scene deteriorates into madcap chaos—until at last Cath, with help from Roomba-like robodog Sprocket, stages an intervention by whisking the hapless new arrival off to a backyard workshop for a proper assembly and software update. “You’re such a good big sister!” warbles her frazzled mom. Wiesner’s robots display his characteristic clean lines and even hues but endearingly look like vaguely anthropomorphic piles of random jet-engine parts and old vacuum cleaners loosely connected by joints of armored cable. They roll hither and thither through neatly squared-off panels and pages in infectiously comical dismay. Even the end’s domestic tranquility lasts only until Cathode spots the little box buried in the bigger one’s packing material: “TWINS!” (This book was reviewed digitally with 9-by-22-inch double-page spreads viewed at 52% of actual size.)
A retro-futuristic romp, literally and figuratively screwy. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-544-98731-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: June 2, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2020
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