A comforting, well-illustrated picture book that reaffirms the power of creation.
In Aggarwal’s illustrated children’s book, a mother explains to her son their connection to the universe.
Somewhere in a lush, palm-laden landscape, a woman in a sari, referred to as Maa, walks barefoot in the dewy grass with her son, Manu. She likens the dewdrops to the ocean, because the droplets can come together to create a much larger whole. That whole is already within the dew, she explains, just as the universe is within each person. Maa draws on humans’ connections to the Earth, moon, sun, and planets to explain how they’re conduits for the astronomical objects’ energies. For example, she notes, the moon’s tides ebb and flow with its fluctuating gravity, just as our emotions push and pull at us. When she and Manu return home, Maa uses the mango she’s slicing for his meal to explain that a seed learns from the moon the desire to see the sun and live in the earth: “Nature is like a big puzzle, where everything fits together. It’s what makes life possible. It’s like how pieces of a puzzle come together to create a beautiful picture.” Humans have all they need within themselves already, she asserts, and they’re connected to everything else. Maa teaches Manu a Sanskrit mantra to help him remember this whenever he feels like giving up. This message is one in which readers of all ages can find solace from loneliness or insecurity. Although Maa’s analogies may initially seem murky, Aggarwal beautifully explains each philosophical point through natural, understandable images that are easy to understand. An author’s note states that the ideas in this, her debut picture book, are rooted in Sanskrit mantras and Hindu traditions. Bagade’s sweeping, full-color illustrations are full of curves that emphasize the cyclical aspects of life and energy, from a rounded tree to abstract arcs that bend out from mangos.
A comforting, well-illustrated picture book that reaffirms the power of creation.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Menacing and most likely to appeal to established fans of its co-creators.
Existing artwork from an artistic giant inspires a fairy-tale reimagination by a master of the horror genre.
In King’s interpretation of a classic Brothers Grimm story, which accompanies set and costume designs that the late Sendak created for a 1997 production of Engelbert Humperdinck’s opera, siblings Hansel and Gretel survive abandonment in the woods and an evil witch’s plot to gobble them up before finding their “happily ever after” alongside their father. Prose with the reassuring cadence of an old-timey tale, paired with Sendak’s instantly recognizable artwork, will lull readers before capitalizing on these creators’ knack for injecting darkness into seemingly safe spaces. Gaping faces loom in crevices of rocks and trees, and a gloomy palette of muted greens and ocher amplify the story’s foreboding tone, while King never sugarcoats the peach-skinned children’s peril. Branches with “clutching fingers” hide “the awful enchanted house” of a “child-stealing witch,” all portrayed in an eclectic mix of spot and full-bleed images. Featuring insults that might strike some as harsh (“idiot,” “fool”), the lengthy, dense text may try young readers’ patience, and the often overwhelmingly ominous mood feels more pitched to adults—particularly those familiar with King and Sendak—but an introduction acknowledges grandparents as a likely audience, and nostalgia may prompt leniency over an occasional disconnect between words and art.
Menacing and most likely to appeal to established fans of its co-creators. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9780062644695
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2025
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.
The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
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