A new-toy story for readers to befriend.
A new toy robot brings new fun to a child accustomed to playing with his stuffed animals.
In this Belgian import, Ben, a white boy with blond curls, has four favorite stuffed animal friends, depicted as sentient beings who actively play with him. Their happy life together changes when Daddy (who isn’t pictured in the story) gifts Ben a talking toy robot named Tobor. The animals and Ben all seem apprehensive about the newcomer, who ends up monopolizing Ben’s attention and taking him away from his four stuffed animals and wearing him out with lots of new games and activities. Ultimately, this proves overwhelming to Ben, and he turns the robot’s power off and happily returns to his old friends. In a case of distance making the heart grow fonder, Ben ends up missing Tobor and decides to press its nose to turn it back on again. This time, Ben teaches Tobor new games and successfully includes his stuffed animal friends in their fun, too, creating a more enjoyable and balanced time for all. The cheery palette of the cartoon-style illustrations keeps the tone of the story light as Ben navigates his dynamic with his playmates. It’s refreshing to see a story that successfully incorporates technology into analog play rather than demonizing one or the other.
A new-toy story for readers to befriend. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-60537-317-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Clavis
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2017
A sweet cetacean story.
The flora and fauna of the ocean respond to a lonely whale’s beautiful music by helping him find another whale.
“Whale’s song was so beautiful it could reach the farthest of faraways.” Over a double-page spread, a simply drawn white whale—detailed with a large eye, a small mouth and fins, and a small lavender heart—swims past a variety of pastel-hued sea denizens. The lyrical text is set in type that emulates hand-lettering. Watercolors are the appropriate choice for a tale that occurs in a sea full of creatures—with an occasional glimpse of land and sky as well as a cheerfully colored sailboat and lighthouse. Collage, pencil sketching, and washes produce a dreamlike effect that also feels sweetly humorous. A double-page spread of sea horses lounging atop spirited jellyfish is especially whimsical. Musical terms are cleverly used to describe the singing whale’s positive effects on others (“a cheerful symphony for a sad urchin”). After several pages of poetic lines about the talented singer, readers learn that his heart feels “empty.” The ocean carries his sighing wish across miles of lovingly rendered sea habitats until the solo becomes a duet. Although the flap copy speaks of friendship, even the youngest of readers will sense that this is a whale of a romance. Beneath its warmth is a poignant reminder of the loss to all if whale songs become history.
A sweet cetacean story. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-984-83627-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
Gently encourages empathy, compassion, and consideration.
How will you behave tomorrow?
Utilizing the same format and concept of her popular Tomorrow I’ll Be Brave (2018), Hische presents young listeners with short, studied rhymes that describe various positive attributes (being helpful, patient, gentle, honest, generous, graceful, and kind). Also included are kid-friendly ways to incorporate these behaviors into daily life, with the underlying goal of making the world a better place. The illustrations, which feature friends in the forms of a mouse, cat, and rabbit, are colorful and appealing, and they extend the text by showing some additional ways of realizing the characteristics mentioned. Overall, the intentions are aboveboard, but this is a volume intended to teach about positive values and behavior, and as such, it comes across as somewhat treacly and proselytizing. The key words, incorporated into the illustrations in a graphic manner, are sometimes a bit difficult to read, and occasionally, select vocabulary and phrases (“to myself I will be true”; “my heart, my guiding light”) seem better suited for an older readership. Still, as an introduction to personality characteristics, beneficial behaviors, and social-emotional skills, this is a solid choice, and fans of the previous volume are likely to embrace this one as well. “I’ll dream of all the good that comes / when we all just do our best,” the text explains—a sentiment that’s hard to rebut.
Gently encourages empathy, compassion, and consideration. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Jan. 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5247-8704-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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