All the photos are diverting, but the conceptual premise stumbles.
Pairs of bold, quirky photographs from varied locations illustrate contrasting concepts.
An aerial-photography specialist focuses on waterscapes, landscapes, and animals, sometimes unusually enhanced. Settings (named under each photo) include Bolivia, the Caribbean, the Pacific, Antarctica, and a hotel in Palm Springs, California, complete with fantastical animal inhabitants, previously featured in Malin’s Be Our Guest! (2018). The most intriguing photos are of llamas in Salar de Uyuni, a Bolivian salt flat. The woolly animals have traditional wool tassels hanging from their ears and, sometimes, quite untraditional large balloons surrounding their bodies. Two llamas, one black, one white, each covered in matching balloons, dominate the jacket. The spectacular large balloons show up again inside the book, where one llama with pink balloons stands opposite two others, also draped in pink. The intense blue sky, the white salt surface, and the pink balloons are striking, but the concept words “ALONE” and “TOGETHER” in embossed block capital letters across the photos’ middles distract from the strong visuals. Unfortunately this same layout is used throughout. While many coupled images artfully represent the simple concepts being introduced, others don’t work as well. Two flamingos labeled with the word “FEATHERS” are next to a tiger labeled “FUR.” An elephant surrounded by tall, balloon-festooned shrubs opposite a bunch of balloons rising in the salt flat, labeled “HEAVY” and “LIGHT,” respectively, is positively opaque.
All the photos are diverting, but the conceptual premise stumbles. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: May 5, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3970-5
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Abrams Appleseed
Review Posted Online: Feb. 25, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
An upbeat early book on feelings with a simple storyline that little ones will respond to.
This simplified version of Diesen and Hanna’s The Pout-Pout Fish (2008) is appropriate for babies and toddlers.
Brief, rhyming text tells the story of a sullen fish cheered up with a kiss. A little pink sea creature pokes his head out of a hole in the sea bottom to give the gloomy fish some advice: “Smile, Mr. Fish! / You look so down // With your glum-glum face / And your pout-pout frown.” He explains that there’s no reason to be worried, scared, sad or mad and concludes: “How about a smooch? / And a cheer-up wish? // Now you look happy: / What a smile, Mr. Fish!” Simple and sweet, this tale offers the lesson that sometimes, all that’s needed for a turnaround in mood is some cheer and encouragement to change our perspective. The clean, uncluttered illustrations are kept simple, except for the pout-pout fish’s features, which are delightfully expressive. Little ones will easily recognize and likely try to copy the sad, scared and angry looks that cross the fish’s face.
An upbeat early book on feelings with a simple storyline that little ones will respond to. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-374-37084-8
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A bittersweet tale for kids that deftly illustrates the conflicting emotions that can occur when a loved one is struggling...
In Bertone’s illustrated children’s book, a young boy navigates his increasingly complex but loving relationship with his grandmother, who has Alzheimer’s disease.
Nate loves his Nana, but lately he’s noticed “something going on with her mind.” She begins acting oddly: attempting to read a book upside down, for instance, or forgetting that it’s his birthday party and not hers. As she becomes more preoccupied with “imaginary friends” that Nate can’t see, he becomes increasingly upset that she doesn’t play with him the way she used to: “Sometimes my Nana goes far away, traveling, in her mind. But, where? It’s hard to say! To Italy, outer space, or back to 1952. When Nana’s not here, I don’t know what to do.” Although other people, including Papa (Nate’s grandfather), tend to argue with her when she gets in those moods, Nate tries his hardest to be understanding. As he wonders if she’ll be around to see him get older, she reassures him that her love will remain forever, “though I may forget your name and your face.” Bertone tells the story in verse, with only one or two sentences per page. Claridades’ cartoon illustrations feature wide-eyed characters and pops of color that perfectly encapsulate the story’s shifting moods. When Nana talks to people who aren’t present, for example, the illustrator shades the ghosts of her past in a solid color to differentiate them from reality. The book skillfully blends hard facts and feelings, mentioning Alzheimer’s disease symptoms, such as mood swings, while also demonstrating Nate’s patience and adoration. The lack of parental figures in the book seems like a missed opportunity for the story to clearly explain to Nate, and young readers, what’s happening with Nana. By and large, though, the book manages to convey the reality of the disease to kids in an approachable way that encourages discussion. The book ends with resources for “Understanding aging, dementia, and Alzheimer’s.”
A bittersweet tale for kids that deftly illustrates the conflicting emotions that can occur when a loved one is struggling with dementia.Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2024
ISBN: 9798989403417
Page Count: 50
Publisher: Susan Schadt Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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