A Zen-infused tale about the importance of paying attention to now, delicately relayed without heavy baggage or lifting.
A young hedgehog, curious about his world, asks other creatures about their beliefs.
Author/illustrator Buquet’s generously sized illustrations, executed with oil paints in a monotype printmaking technique, have a cultivated simplicity in their palette and design that mirrors the subtle message of the narrative. When Herodotus, a young hedgehog, overhears a bear making an offering of fruit and honey to the Mighty Bear Spirit, he is mystified. He tells Fox, who mentions that foxes, too, have a Great Fox Spirit. Herodotus then asks the wise hedgehog Venerable if hedgehogs have a Great Hedgehog Spirit. But Venerable tells him that humble hedgehogs know only one thing: “the sun rises, and then it sets.” Herodotus thinks this is inadequate, and he determines to ask other creatures about their Great Spirits. He discovers that they all believe in them; additionally, all believe their Great Spirits are the best—although the Hoopoe says there is only one Great Spirit. Confused, Herodotus closes his eyes, first hearing silence, then “crying, singing and the flapping of wings.” Herodotus suddenly realizes he is hungry and thirsty—in the moment—and, opening his eyes, sees Venerable. “I understand, I think,” he tells the old hedgehog. “Let’s go see the sunset.”
A Zen-infused tale about the importance of paying attention to now, delicately relayed without heavy baggage or lifting. (Picture book. 4-9)Pub Date: March 15, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-8028-5498-8
Page Count: 50
Publisher: Eerdmans
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018
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
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions.
Ellis, known for her illustrations for Colin Meloy’s Wildwood series, here riffs on the concept of “home.”
Shifting among homes mundane and speculative, contemporary and not, Ellis begins and ends with views of her own home and a peek into her studio. She highlights palaces and mansions, but she also takes readers to animal homes and a certain famously folkloric shoe (whose iconic Old Woman manages a passel of multiethnic kids absorbed in daring games). One spread showcases “some folks” who “live on the road”; a band unloads its tour bus in front of a theater marquee. Ellis’ compelling ink and gouache paintings, in a palette of blue-grays, sepia and brick red, depict scenes ranging from mythical, underwater Atlantis to a distant moonscape. Another spread, depicting a garden and large building under connected, transparent domes, invites readers to wonder: “Who in the world lives here? / And why?” (Earth is seen as a distant blue marble.) Some of Ellis’ chosen depictions, oddly juxtaposed and stripped of any historical or cultural context due to the stylized design and spare text, become stereotypical. “Some homes are boats. / Some homes are wigwams.” A sailing ship’s crew seems poised to land near a trio of men clad in breechcloths—otherwise unidentified and unremarked upon.
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6529-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
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