BLUE RIDER

Name: BLUE RIDER
Author: Geraldo Valério
ISBN: 978-1-55498-981-2

by Geraldo Valério ; illustrated by Geraldo Valério ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 6, 2018

Valério excels at conveying the pure joy of color and form and, not incidentally, the ability of art and books to lift us up...

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In the double-page spread immediately following the endpapers, the gazes of readers shift from a cityscape to a pale girl peering out of a skyscraper.

Her story unfolds in wordless double-page spreads rendered in pen, colored pencil, acrylics, and collage. Initially the palette—including skin tone—is limited to dull blues, grays, creams, tans, and oranges. This lends a somewhat surreal effect to the sidewalk crowd, most of whom are distracted with screens or headphones. As the child steps outside, her blue clothing becomes brighter, and a related shade seems to be seeping from wall to pavement. She spies a book with a blue horse on the cover and picks it up, smiling. Back in her drab room, the animal leaps off the page into the sky, scattering a rainbow of torn paper shapes across the pages. As the horse races, an exciting explosion of colorful contours suggesting flowers and butterflies becomes ever more abstract until it becomes a fusion of forms. From these the horse and rider emerge. The final sequences return readers to her room, now transformed. This will be a fresh narrative experience for those who rely on text or realism to guide meaning. It is well worth turning back to grapple with potential intent.

Valério excels at conveying the pure joy of color and form and, not incidentally, the ability of art and books to lift us up and away. (Picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: March 6, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-55498-981-2

Page Count: 44

Publisher: Groundwood

Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
COCO AND THE CATERPILLARS
by Geraldo Valério ; illustrated by Geraldo Valério

- BOOK REVIEW
GIRAFFE MATH
by Stephen R. Swinburne ; illustrated by Geraldo Valério

- BOOK REVIEW
TWO GREEN BIRDS
by Geraldo Valério ; illustrated by Geraldo Valério

- BLOG
Bolts from the Blue

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CINDERELLA

From the Once Upon a World series

by Chloe Perkins ; illustrated by Sandra Equihua ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 13, 2016

A nice but not requisite purchase.

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
THE LITTLE MERMAID
adapted by Hannah Eliot ; illustrated by Nivea Ortiz

- BOOK REVIEW
THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA
by Chloe Perkins ; illustrated by Dinara Mirtalipova

- BOOK REVIEW
RAPUNZEL
by Chloe Perkins ; illustrated by Archana Sreenivasan

- BOOK REVIEW
THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA
by Chloe Perkins ; illustrated by Dinara Mirtalipova

- BOOK REVIEW
RAPUNZEL
by Chloe Perkins ; illustrated by Archana Sreenivasan

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THE GRUFFALO

by Julia Donaldson illustrated by Axel Scheffler ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 1999

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The action of this rhymed and humorous tale centers upon a mouse who "took a stroll/through the deep dark wood./A fox saw the mouse/and the mouse looked good." The mouse escapes being eaten by telling the fox that he is on his way to meet his friend the gruffalo (a monster of his imagination), whose favorite food is roasted fox. The fox beats a hasty retreat. Similar escapes are in store for an owl and a snake; both hightail it when they learn the particulars: tusks, claws, terrible jaws, eyes orange, tongue black, purple prickles on its back. When the gruffalo suddenly materializes out of the mouse's head and into the forest, the mouse has to think quick, declaring himself inedible as the "scariest creature in the deep dark wood," and inviting the gruffalo to follow him to witness the effect he has on the other creatures. When the gruffalo hears that the mouse's favorite food is gruffalo crumble, he runs away. It's a fairly innocuous tale, with twists that aren't sharp enough and treachery that has no punch. Scheffler's funny scenes prevent the suspense from culminating; all his creatures, predator and prey, are downright lovable. (Picture book. 3-6)