Sweet but not extraordinary, which just may be the point.
Toddler Grace tells her dad about the rough day she had.
“ ‘Guess what, Daddy.’ / ‘What?’ / ‘Today I ran away.’ / ‘You did? Why?’ ” In this Q-and-A format, she relates the events of the day. First, her favorite purple shirt’s dirty, so she has to wear a white one. Daddy understands. Then at breakfast, her favorite cereal’s “all gone,” but that’s not all. Those problems spark a tantrum, which causes Mom to send her to her room. In making Mom an I’m-sorry card, Grace decides she’ll also make her white shirt purple with markers. Mom takes away her markers, and that’s when Grace decides to run away. She announces her intentions at lunch; Mom obligingly fixes it to go. Grace can’t run far (not allowed to cross the street), but Mom suggests a tent in the yard. Spaghetti dinner calls Grace, her dog, and her stuffed rabbit home, but she doesn’t pack up; she’s had so much fun, she’s running away tomorrow, too. Niner’s tale, told entirely in dialogue at bedtime, will be familiar to most toddlers, though not every set of parents is so indulgent and understanding. The typeface and color are different for each speaker (Grace’s is, of course, purple). Ongaro’s illustrations, drawn by hand but colored electronically, alternate between the evening bedroom and the events of the day, depicting Grace and her parents as white. The bright and cheery images add needed detail to the spare tale.
Sweet but not extraordinary, which just may be the point. (Picture book. 2-6)Pub Date: April 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-936261-89-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Flashlight Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 31, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
Sentimental but effective.
A book aimed at easing separation anxiety and reinforcing bonds.
Twins Liza and Jeremy awaken during a thunderstorm and go to their mother for comfort. She reassures them that they’re safe and says, “You know we’re always together, no matter what,” when they object to returning to bed. She then explains that when she was a child her mother told her about the titular “Invisible String,” encouraging them to envision it as a link between them no matter what. “People who love each other are always connected by a very special String made of love,” she tells them, reinforcing this idea as they proceed to imagine various scenarios, fantastic and otherwise, that might cause them to be separated in body. She also affirms that this string can “reach all the way to Uncle Brian in heaven” and that it doesn’t go away if she’s angry with them or when they have conflicts. As they go to bed, reassured, the children, who present white, imagine their friends and diverse people around the world connected with invisible strings, promoting a vision of global unity and empathy. While the writing often feels labored and needlessly repetitive, Lew-Vriethoff’s playful cartoon art enhances and lightens the message-driven text, which was originally published in 2000 with illustrations by Geoff Stevenson.
Sentimental but effective. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 30, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-48623-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2018
The visual details invite interaction, making it a good choice for storytime or solo inspection.
It’s a quiet day, until….
“I have a bot!” An excited child’s happiness is short-lived, for the remote-controlled toy escapes its wireless tether and begins an ascent up the side of a skyscraper. The building’s doorman launches a race to recover the bot, and soon everyone wants to help. Attempts to retrieve the bot, which is rendered as a red rectangle with a propeller, arms, and a rudimentary face, go from the mundanity of a broom to the absurd—a bright orange beehive hairdo and a person-sized Venus’ flytrap are just some of the silly implements the building’s occupants use to try to rein in the bot. Each double-page spread reveals another level of the building—and further visual hijinks—as the bot makes its way to the top, where an unexpected hero waits (keep an eye out for falling bananas). The tall, narrow trim size echoes the shape of the skyscraper, providing a sense of height as the bot rises. Text is minimal; short declarations in tidy black dialogue bubbles with white courier-style typeface leave the primary-colored, blocky art to effectively carry the story. Facial expressions—both human and bot—are comically spot-on. The bot-owning child has light skin, and there are several people of color among those trying to rescue the bot. One person wears a kufi.
The visual details invite interaction, making it a good choice for storytime or solo inspection. (Picture book. 2-6)Pub Date: July 23, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-425-28881-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
PERSPECTIVES
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