A quiet book that will stay with readers long after they have closed it.
The coal mines of Cape Breton in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia have closed, but this book recalls a time when generations of men toiled in the mines under the sea.
As the book starts, a white couple stands by the door. The woman holds her husband’s lunch pail as he gets ready to leave home. Upstairs, their son wakes up, and it is from him that readers will get to know his town and life by the sea, the repeated phrase “it goes like this—” lending the narrative a timeless quality. Both the text and the illustrations have a simple, understated quality that go hand in hand and lend a melancholic feel to the whole. A muted palette and images heavily outlined in black reinforce the feeling. As the boy goes about his life above—playing with his brown-skinned friend; coming home to a simple lunch; going to the store with a list for the grocer; or visiting his grandfather’s grave overlooking the sea—several predominantly black two-page spreads, vigorously textured strokes of black and gray adding weight, are woven into the narrative, reminding readers that deep down, the miners are digging for coal. A particularly poignant spread depicts the front door of the house in a wordless series, the angle of the sunlight showing time going by; in the last image the door is opening, and the narrator’s father is home at last.
A quiet book that will stay with readers long after they have closed it. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-55498-871-6
Page Count: 52
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
Tender and affirming.
A father and child bond while camping.
The two awaken in their tent on a chilly morning in the woods. The young narrator is cold, but Daddy says they’ll warm up as they start walking. As the pair hike past trees and over rocks, then bait their hooks and cast their lines, it becomes apparent that Daddy is retracing the path he and his late father, Pop-Pop, once took, re-creating the same moments of wonder and awe. The child ponders: “Are we looking under the same rocks? Weaving through the same trails? Resting beneath the same magnolia tree as we sit still, listen, and breathe?” The narrator becomes overwhelmed with emotion over the loss of Pop-Pop, but Daddy says that he feels the same way and lets the protagonist know that showing emotion is OK—a valuable lesson for young readers coping with grief. This potent, poetic story is complemented by Fisher’s art, which blends soft colors and is full of movement and captures the characters’ expressions. Fisher has a delicate touch, conveying the small pleasures of the great outdoors as well as the importance of giving oneself permission to sit with sadness. Daddy and the child are brown-skinned, while Pop-Pop, seen in flashback, is lighter-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Tender and affirming. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9780316055864
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
A lovely vision for small, sensitive existentialists.
Under the desert night sky, Dad helps his child find cosmic comfort.
The vast universe has made a child feel too small despite their close family. Until, the young narrator tells us, they and their father pack their old pickup, driving through the “rubber and french fries” smell of the city and the “sweet and smoky” mountain scent to camp off-road in a remote arroyo. Together they see tiny beetle prints, jump in sand dunes, name birds, build a fire, watch the sunset, and stretch out in the truck bed. A thoughtful, small human, the child admits to being scared of “how big the universe is and how it goes on and on forever.” But equally thoughtful Dad explains that stars, beetles, birds, and even people are made of energy. Angst is not easily tamed, but snuggling and giving the constellations idiosyncratic names help, as does Mom’s back-at-home surprise: glowing stars covering the narrator’s room. In this bed under the stars, this budding philosopher finally feels “at home here in the universe.” It’s a quiet, contemplative tale that might not strike a chord with all readers but will reassure those who share the protagonist’s worries. Delicate, realistic art plays warm orange and brown hues against blues from pale to indigo, balancing (living) warmth and (interstellar) distance. The child and family are light-skinned and redheaded. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A lovely vision for small, sensitive existentialists. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: April 4, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-5362-1239-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2023
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