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
An unfortunately simplistic delivery of a well-intentioned message.
Drawing on lyrics from her Mormon children’s hymn of the same title, Pearson explores diversity and acceptance in a more secular context.
Addressing people of varying ages, races, origins, and abilities in forced rhymes that omit the original version’s references to Jesus, various speakers describe how they—unlike “some people”—will “show [their] love for” their fellow humans. “If you don’t talk as most people do / some people talk and laugh at you,” a child tells a tongue-tied classmate. “But I won’t! / I won’t! / I’ll talk with you / and giggle too. / That’s how I’ll show my love for you.” Unfortunately, many speakers’ actions feel vague and rather patronizing even as they aim to include and reassure. “I know you bring such interesting things,” a wheelchair user says, welcoming a family “born far, far away” who arrives at the airport; the adults wear Islamic clothing. As pink- and brown-skinned worshipers join a solitary brown-skinned person who somehow “[doesn’t] pray as some people pray” on a church pew, a smiling, pink-skinned worshiper’s declaration that “we’re all, I see, one family” raises echoes of the problematic assertion, “I don’t see color.” The speakers’ exclamations of “But I won’t!” after noting others’ prejudiced behavior reads more as self-congratulation than promise of inclusion. Sanders’ geometric, doll-like human figures are cheery but stiff, and the text’s bold, uppercase typeface switches jarringly to cursive for the refrain, “That’s how I’ll show my love for you.” Characters’ complexions include paper-white, yellow, pink, and brown.
An unfortunately simplistic delivery of a well-intentioned message. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: March 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4236-5395-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Gibbs Smith
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
A worthy message wrapped up in a playful romp.
A romp about saying “I don’t know.”
An apartment building full of cartoonlike creatures shown interacting through their windows (a clever illustrative decision) evokes the lively life of urban living. When one neighbor asks another (via the window) to wake them up in “20 coconuts,” the neighbor agrees but then admits to himself that he doesn’t know what that means—something that bothers him because he is known for being a know-it-all; in fact, he comes from a family of know-it-alls. Ah, pressure! The know-it-all gets himself into a tizzy, cleans his ears and finds a sock and a chicken, consults “Phoney” (his cellphone), and even gets his brain washed by Wally’s Wash Works. If this all sounds extremely silly and somewhat chaotic, it is—which means kids will probably love it. Eventually, he wakes up his neighbor with his yelling (right on time, apparently) but admits to her he doesn’t know what 20 coconuts means. She offers to explain, but then he says he has to be somewhere in “11 bananas,” throwing her into confusion. The energetic (some may say frenzied) tone is amplified by illustrations that have lots going on, with various characters talking in dialogue bubbles to each other, but the message itself comes across as a little light until an explanatory note from the “brains” spells it out—it’s OK to say you don’t know. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A worthy message wrapped up in a playful romp. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 20, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-316-31196-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano Books
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2022
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