Inventive and lovely.
A derelict house on top of a hill beckons two young children.
Two children, possibly siblings, approach the waiting house on a winding, weed-covered path, all the while wondering about its past and those who dwelled within its walls. An empty window invites them to climb in. The tale is not told by the children but by an unseen narrator who seems to speak directly to the readers watching these events from outside the pages. The explorers find all sorts of items that were left behind, while the narrator asks, “Who looked in this mirror?” “Who napped in this chair?” “Who was this someone…who’s gone but is still everywhere?” The language is direct, appealing equally to ear, eye, and mind. Intricate double-page spreads allow readers to follow the children as they explore and imagine and then return to their own cozy home. Smith’s illustrations neatly separate action from imagination. The children and present-day house are depicted with blotted-line India ink, appearing a bit faded and mysterious (the children’s skin takes on the color of the paper beneath). Their imagined house dwellers’ activities are painted in bright, light-filled oils with paper collage; the soft edges of these reveal narrow white backgrounds, effectively separating them from now. It is all perfectly seamless; words and art are interwoven in a dance that enchants.
Inventive and lovely. (Picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: May 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-62672-314-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
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
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
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