Celebrates inventive play and offers a refreshingly positive message about sibling harmony.
A little girl and her big brother make the most of a rainy day by using their imaginations to have fantastical adventures indoors.
Eight-year-old Braydon and his almost-5-year-old sister Brooklynn (pictured by illustrator Kerber as two blond white children) are stuck inside their home on Sammie Street on a rainy day. Piles of laundry and bedding in Braydon’s messy room turn into “Mount Clothia,” a mountain so high it reaches the stars. A blustery wind blows open a window and the children must escape a giant’s clutching hands (the drapes) in the “Flying Forest.” The basement laundry room becomes “Whispering Waterfalls,” home to trolls. The adventures and the full-bleed, brightly colored illustrations that depict them offer child-pleasing mild humor and suspense. Beyond encouraging young readers to cultivate creativity and use their imaginations—with no screens to distract them—Blyth (Escaped the Night, 2016) offers a message about the rewards of brother-sister bonding. Braydon’s initial reluctance to spend the day with Brooklynn, giving way to enjoyment as his sister eagerly follows along, rings true. The 8-year-old’s snippy reluctance to become the follower when Brooklynn comes up with her own adventure is overdone, but there is pleasing warmth in the resolution of the escapade and the siblings’ return to their everyday life.
Celebrates inventive play and offers a refreshingly positive message about sibling harmony.Pub Date: Dec. 8, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-64361-247-8
Page Count: 42
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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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