Beautifully brilliant in its simplicity.
An exploration of the spaces separating words, outer space, and everything in between.
Following a humongous or—depending on perspective—tiny ladybug, readers are led through explanations of different meanings for the word space. Typographical, physical, and chronological spaces are some of the concepts probed in the story. Although space is often visually represented in concrete images, such as the interstices between spilled, uncontained noodles or the gap between teeth, abstract concepts are also transmitted, like the disgust one might feel when there is no space separating pickles and pudding, causing flavors to combine, or the built-up excitement created by a pause, or space, between moments. Readers will be enticed to keep revisiting the book, as it turns into a seek-and-find challenge when the pages are turned. Characters, patterns, and sections of previous spreads appear multiple times from different perspectives, leading readers to continually flip back and forth to locate the original image and to piece the final image together. Masterful page breaks create anticipation to see what is coming in the next spread, the first part of a truncated sentence often begging readers to turn the page to explore its resolution. The simplicity of Nichols’ illustrations are reminiscent of Christian Robinson’s and, with a diverse cast of characters—including both characters of color and disabled characters—evoke joy and communicate movement, life, and complex concepts.
Beautifully brilliant in its simplicity. (Informational picture book. 4–7)Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-328-80147-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
Bruce Goldstone’s Awesome Autumn (2012) is still the gold standard.
Rotner follows Hello Spring (2017) with this salute to the fall season.
Name a change seen in northern climes in fall, and Rotner likely covers it here, from plants, trees, and animals to the food we harvest: seeds are spread, the days grow shorter and cooler, the leaves change and fall (and are raked up and jumped in), some animals migrate, and many families celebrate Halloween and Thanksgiving. As in the previous book, the photographs (presented in a variety of sizes and layouts, all clean) are the stars here, displaying both the myriad changes of the season and a multicultural array of children enjoying the outdoors in fall. These are set against white backgrounds that make the reddish-orange print pop. The text itself uses short sentences and some solid vocabulary (though “deep sleep” is used instead of “hibernate”) to teach readers the markers of autumn, though in the quest for simplicity, Rotner sacrifices some truth. In several cases, the addition of just a few words would have made the following oversimplified statements reflect reality: “Birds grow more feathers”; “Cranberries float and turn red.” Also, Rotner includes the statement “Bees store extra honey in their hives” on a page about animals going into deep sleep, implying that honeybees hibernate, which is false.
Bruce Goldstone’s Awesome Autumn (2012) is still the gold standard. (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3869-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: June 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
Adults will do better skipping the book and talking with their children.
Social-equity themes are presented to children in ABC format.
Terms related to intersectional inequality, such as “class,” “gender,” “privilege,” “oppression,” “race,” and “sex,” as well as other topics important to social justice such as “feminism,” “human being,” “immigration,” “justice,” “kindness,” “multicultural,” “transgender,” “understanding,” and “value” are named and explained. There are 26 in all, one for each letter of the alphabet. Colorful two-page spreads with kid-friendly illustrations present each term. First the term is described: “Belief is when you are confident something exists even if you can’t see it. Lots of different beliefs fill the world, and no single belief is right for everyone.” On the facing page it concludes: “B is for BELIEF / Everyone has different beliefs.” It is hard to see who the intended audience for this little board book is. Babies and toddlers are busy learning the names for their body parts, familiar objects around them, and perhaps some basic feelings like happy, hungry, and sad; slightly older preschoolers will probably be bewildered by explanations such as: “A value is an expression of how to live a belief. A value can serve as a guide for how you behave around other human beings. / V is for VALUE / Live your beliefs out loud.”
Adults will do better skipping the book and talking with their children. (Board book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-78603-742-8
Page Count: 52
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2019
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