A sweet, brief glimpse into a universal childhood experience in a very specific place
Better safe than sorry when you don’t feel well.
In a small village in eastern Nigeria, Vicky, who looks about 6, watches listlessly as her friends play all around her and doesn’t take part. Nor does she join in when they start drawing pictures. Vicky also won’t eat her mother’s food, a sure sign that something’s wrong. Her father feels her forehead; it’s hot. Her mother declares she must take Vicky to the doctor. The clinic’s not far away, so they’re able to walk. The doctor, a grandmotherly woman with wire-rimmed eyeglasses, has a gentle manner. She takes Vicky’s temperature and listens to her chest, recommending that the little girl be kept cool and given lots of water. In no time, Vicky feels much better, displaying a healthy appetite and playing and drawing pictures with her friends again. The high-resolution color photographs that illustrate the book provide many interesting details of village life in Nigeria, and Vicky makes a winsome protagonist. In contrast, the story is a bit flat, and Onyefulu’s text has the brevity and stiltedness of a primer. This accessibility should appeal to beginning readers, but as a read-aloud it suffers. Ife’s First Haircut, a companion piece featuring an adorable male toddler, shares this offering’s strengths and weaknesses.
A sweet, brief glimpse into a universal childhood experience in a very specific place .(Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-84780-363-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2014
The writing isn’t stellar, but the love depicted between the titular characters sure is.
A father and his daughter share a day full of love, play, and imagination.
The pair, described as the ultimate “daddy-daughter / power-combo superhero team,” do everything together on their special day: sip morning smoothies, play basketball, splash in the rain, and even attend a protest. Readers see a father who isn’t afraid to wear his dreadlocks in a bow, attend a tea party, or pretend to be a princess. He freely follows his daughter’s lead, breaking apart misguided stereotypes of how fathers are supposed to interact with girl children. Duchess’ illustrations center a Black father—who wears a kente shirt—and daughter and include background characters who are racially diverse, including one wearing a hijab and another with skin depigmentation. The closeness and mutual admiration between dad and daughter look and feel realistic, whether it’s the way Dad gazes at his daughter thoughtfully or tucks her gently into bed. One gets the feeling that this dynamic duo is unstoppable, that they can be whomever they want to be, and that their bond is magical. The bright digital artwork buoys the sometimes-rhyming text, which, while sweet, makes for a stilted read-aloud with phrasing that is at times choppy with an uneven cadence. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
The writing isn’t stellar, but the love depicted between the titular characters sure is. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: May 3, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-316-05526-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Jan. 24, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet and well-meaning lesson in personification and metaphor, but this picture book fails to shine.
The sun sends the world and its inhabitants warm thoughts for peace, unity, and positivity.
A smiling sun shines down on each double-page spread, just as the moon did in Storms and Pavlović’s previous book, Moon Wishes (2019). Using the refrain “if I were the sun,” the narrator describes the sun’s movement from sunrise to sunset throughout the seasons of the year. The sun is personified as a serene explorer, muse, and comforter who lovingly wakes the world with “a gentle morning song” and ends each day with peaceful rest. In between rising and setting, the sun explores “every corner of this wondrous earth.” Alas, the narrative is disappointingly disjointed—the sun flits among pages that depict African wildlife, a school of smiling fish swimming up toward the sun, and a bear fishing in a river. Looking at the world from the sun’s point of view, the narrator is better able to “delight in all our differences”—the accompanying illustration shows 11 disparate birds perched in the same tree. Meanwhile, human diversity is portrayed on other pages: Happy children—some with brown skin, others with pink skin—make snow angels; a man using a wheelchair sits at a harvest table; and an Asian-presenting man wearing a conical hat walks across marshland. Pavlović’s loose mixed-media, colored-pencil, and ink illustrations use warm colors and are as consistently uplifting as Storms’ pretty but desultory word pictures. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A sweet and well-meaning lesson in personification and metaphor, but this picture book fails to shine. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: May 3, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-77306-450-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022
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