An earnest, good-hearted rhyming picture book that shows how sadness and happiness can be a matter of awareness and...
Friends help a sad raisin learn to focus on the positive in this picture book with rhyming text for young children.
A little raisin drooping on a vine and thinking unhappy thoughts doesn’t see any “raisin to be happy” until his fellow raisins help him see the good in the world in this debut picture book written and illustrated by Baldwin, a writer with a background in film and children’s computer games. Using a basic but effective rhyme scheme—and a play on the word “raisin”—Baldwin offers a welcome message about the value of mindfulness and positivity. “The sunshine’s gone—it’s raining! That’s a raisin to be sad,” says the troubled little raisin. His comforting friend suggests an alternate perspective: “Rain makes things clean and green—it’s a raisin to be glad!” And so it goes, as the sad raisin learns to find happiness in simple pleasures: blueberries, flowers, butterflies that are “flying paintings that float and flutter,” friends, fresh air, and laughter. The simple verses on each colorful, two-page spread appear to be lettered by hand. Baldwin’s cartoony raisin characters, purple and peanut-shaped, with big eyes and black arms and legs, superimposed over realistic outdoor settings of blue sky and grape vines, have an amateurish charm.
An earnest, good-hearted rhyming picture book that shows how sadness and happiness can be a matter of awareness and perspective.Pub Date: July 12, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-9988992-0-6
Page Count: 34
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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