From New Zealand, an inventive and delightful tale that evokes Thumbelina, the Borrowers, and other beloved wee characters.
When a very tiny woman needs a new coat, she gets lots of practical help.
She is determined to make the coat but needs tools and supplies. Autumn trees shed their beautiful leaves to provide the coat’s cloth. A grey goose uses its beak as scissors to cut the leaves into body and sleeves. A porcupine generously offers a quill as needle. Thread comes from a horse’s mane, and wild weeds scatter seeds for buttons. When the coat is complete, it gives her warmth and comfort through cold and storm. With text constructed in a folkloric style, each interaction begins, on one double-page spread, “The tiny woman wanted a coat,” followed by the question of where to acquire a needed element. Each donation is offered on the subsequent double-page spread, accompanied by an italicized, expository refrain. “Rustle, rustle, rustle” say the leaves; “snip, snip, snip” goes the goose’s bill; and the porcupine’s quill is “sharp, sharp, sharp.” Young readers will have fun echoing the repetitive phrases throughout the tale, adding their own voices to the narration. The pale-skinned, redheaded protagonist is indeed tiny, depicted in Clarkson’s detailed illustrations as snail-sized, with plants, grasses, and the helpful animals towering over her. Sharp eyes will note the mushroom umbrella that shelters her and her coat from the rainstorm.
From New Zealand, an inventive and delightful tale that evokes Thumbelina, the Borrowers, and other beloved wee characters. (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-77657-342-4
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Gecko Press
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
New parents of daughters will eat these up and perhaps pass on the lessons learned.
All the reasons why a daughter needs a mother.
Each spread features an adorable cartoon animal parent-child pair on the recto opposite a rhyming verse: “I’ll always support you in giving your all / in every endeavor, the big and the small, / and be there to catch you in case you should fall. / I hope you believe this is true.” A virtually identical book, Why a Daughter Needs a Dad, publishes simultaneously. Both address standing up for yourself and your values, laughing to ease troubles, being thankful, valuing friendship, persevering and dreaming big, being truthful, thinking through decisions, and being open to differences, among other topics. Though the sentiments/life lessons here and in the companion title are heartfelt and important, there are much better ways to deliver them. These books are likely to go right over children’s heads and developmental levels (especially with the rather advanced vocabulary); their parents are the more likely audience, and for them, the books provide some coaching in what kids need to hear. The two books are largely interchangeable, especially since there are so few references to mom or dad, but one spread in each book reverts to stereotype: Dad balances the two-wheeler, and mom helps with clothing and hair styles. Since the books are separate, it aids in customization for many families.
New parents of daughters will eat these up and perhaps pass on the lessons learned. (Picture book. 4-8, adult)Pub Date: May 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-6781-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2019
A riotously fresh take on breaking the fourth wall.
This book may not have pictures, but it’s sure to inspire lots of conversations—and laughs.
Television writer, actor and comedian Novak delivers a rare find, indeed: a very good celebrity picture book. It doesn’t even seem fair to call it such, since it has nothing to do with his Emmy Award–winning writing for The Office or the fame his broader career has afforded him. The jacket flap even eschews a glossy photo, instead saying “B.J. has brown hair and blue eyes,” in order to keep with the book’s central conceit. What this book does have is text, and it’s presented through artful typography that visually conveys its changing tone to guide oral readings. Furthermore, the text implies (or rather, demands) a shared reading transaction, in which an adult is compelled to read the text aloud, no matter how “COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS” it is. Employing direct address, it pleads with the implied child listener to allow him or her to stop reading. Nonsense words, silly words to be sung and even a smattering of potty talk for good measure all coalesce in riotous read-aloud fare. Although the closing pages beg the implied child reader to “please please please please / please / choose a book with pictures” for subsequent reading, it’s likely that this request will be ignored.
A riotously fresh take on breaking the fourth wall. (. (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-8037-4171-3
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2014
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