Well-meaning but unrealistic. Unlikely to induce calm.
Roberts, a child psychologist, distills the concept of psycho-emotional “co-regulation” for parents of babies and toddlers.
The first-person narrator begins with a vow—“My dear little one, if you are upset, I promise to share my calm”—then goes on to articulate simple methods for dealing with an upset or overstimulated youngster. These include rocking, holding hands, listening, using a gentle voice, and deep breathing. This straightforward and practical lead-in is followed by a positive intention, broken up over three double-page spreads: “I’ll help you understand these big feelings and teach you that you have a choice. // To honor your emotions and then let them go, // Making yourself feel better.” Unfortunately, this prognostication feels like sentimental cant and is too vague to be very helpful. On the final verso, the narrator reminds the child that “you can always count on my unconditional love and for me to share my calm,” a sweet guarantee marred by a glaring grammatical error. The simple text appears isolated on elegant pastel backgrounds with white botanical silhouettes. The visuals consist of crisp, heartwarming photos in warm tones that depict racially diverse caregivers holding and comforting tots, including but not limited to an interracial couple, a brown-skinned woman wearing a hijab, and an elderly White woman. Implausibly, none of these adults look tired, stressed, or agitated, even in the face of meltdown or tantrums.
Well-meaning but unrealistic. Unlikely to induce calm. (Board book. Birth-adult)Pub Date: Feb. 15, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-4598-3099-8
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: Dec. 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2022
Hundreds of pages of unbridled uplift boiled down to 40.
From two Nobel Peace Prize winners, an invitation to look past sadness and loneliness to the joy that surrounds us.
Bobbing in the wake of 2016’s heavyweight Book of Joy (2016), this brief but buoyant address to young readers offers an earnest insight: “If you just focus on the thing that is making / you sad, then the sadness is all you see. / But if you look around, you will / see that joy is everywhere.” López expands the simply delivered proposal in fresh and lyrical ways—beginning with paired scenes of the authors as solitary children growing up in very different circumstances on (as they put it) “opposite sides of the world,” then meeting as young friends bonded by streams of rainbow bunting and going on to share their exuberantly hued joy with a group of dancers diverse in terms of age, race, culture, and locale while urging readers to do the same. Though on the whole this comes off as a bit bland (the banter and hilarity that characterized the authors’ recorded interchanges are absent here) and their advice just to look away from the sad things may seem facile in view of what too many children are inescapably faced with, still, it’s hard to imagine anyone in the world more qualified to deliver such a message than these two. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Hundreds of pages of unbridled uplift boiled down to 40. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-48423-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2022
Genial starter nonfiction.
Panels activated by sliding tabs introduce youngsters to the human body.
The information is presented in matter-of-fact narration and captioned, graphically simple art featuring rounded lines, oversized heads and eyes, and muted colors. The sliding panels reveal new scenes on both sides of the page, and arrows on the large tabs indicate the direction to pull them (some tabs work left and right and others up and down). Some of the tabs show only slight changes (a white child reaches for a teddy bear, demonstrating how arms and hands work), while others are much more surprising (a different white child runs to a door and on the other side of the panel is shown sitting on the toilet). The double-page spreads employ broad themes as organizers, such as “Your Body,” “Eating Right,” and “Taking Care of Your Body.” Much of the content is focused on the outside of the body, but one panel does slide to reveal an X-ray image of a skeleton. While there are a few dark brown and amber skin tones, it is mostly white children who appear in the pages to demonstrate body movements, self-care, visiting the doctor, senses, and feelings. The companion volume, Baby Animals, employs the same style of sliding panels to introduce youngsters to little critters and their parents, from baboons to penguins.
Genial starter nonfiction. (Board book. 2-5)Pub Date: March 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-2-40800-850-5
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Twirl/Chronicle
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
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