Anya and her parents are returning by moonlight from her grandmother's island home when Anya spots something huge in the sea. Her fear becomes deep concern when her parents recognize a whale and her newborn calf and realize that the whale must have fled a nearby oil spill after the birth; too weary to hold herself afloat, she is drowning. Dad can't reach the Coast Guard, but a miracle intervenes: as the family watches in awe, dozens of other whales appear to hold the mother up until she regains her strength—whales of many species, some bearing harpoons: ghosts that vanish once the crisis is over. There's a twinge of disappointment when the rescue turns out to be supernatural, and yet one subtext of this compelling story seems to be that only miracles may suffice after such an environmental disaster. This team also created Tiger; the dusky moonlit-blue art here, with marvelous underwater views of the whales, is equally beautiful. For those moved by the poignant message, there's a fact sheet and the address for ``Save the Whales.'' (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1993
ISBN: 1-56402-160-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1993
Pedestrian.
Mr. Brown can’t help with farm chores because his shoes are missing—a common occurrence in his household and likely in many readers’ as well.
Children will be delighted that the titular Mr. Brown is in fact a child. After Mr. Brown looks in his closet and sorts through his other family members’ shoes with no luck, his father and his siblings help him search the farm. Eventually—after colorful pages that enable readers to spot footwear hiding—the family gives up on their hunt, and Mr. Brown asks to be carried around for the chores. He rides on his father’s shoulders as Papa gets his work done, as seen on a double-page spread of vignettes. The resolution is more of a lesson for the adult readers than for children, a saccharine moment where father and son express their joy that the missing shoes gave them the opportunity for togetherness—with advice for other parents to appreciate those fleeting moments themselves. Though the art is bright and cheerful, taking advantage of the setting, it occasionally is misaligned with the text (for example, the text states that Mr. Brown is wearing his favorite green shirt while the illustration is of a shirt with wide stripes of white and teal blue, which could confuse readers at the point where they’re trying to figure out which family member is Mr. Brown). The family is light-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Pedestrian. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 14, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-5460-0389-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: WorthyKids/Ideals
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022
A good collection of poems and quick tales that packs a little Halloween chill. Adinolfi’s (Fred’s Bed, 2001, etc.) art has the right mixture of daffy and spooky—eerie faces and clacking skeletons, in strong colors—to set the tone for these six stories, a couple of which have comical edges, but mostly have a solid, creepy quality. Two are cautionary tales: One involves a couple of girls who visit one house too many on Halloween night, the other an irresponsible bully boy who refuses to bring back a library book. One provides a shock: “Then Sally Bibble drew a little scribble / that looked a lot like Baby Bibble. / They never found her baby sister. / Sally Bibble hardly missed her.” And a couple leave strange things unexplained, though older characters think they have figured out the queer happenings: a house that echoes even when it’s not empty, and a mysterious tap tap tapping. The text is also pitch-perfect for beginning readers, with just enough challenge to the words and a narrative momentum that pulls readers right along. (Easy reader. 4-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-06-028456-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2002
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