Original, imaginative and perfect for naptime or bedtime.
A celebration of the expanded roles of libraries in the 21st century takes its visual cue from the best mid-20th-century picture books.
“Once there was a library that opened only at night. A little librarian worked there with her three assistant owls.” These sentences appear on opposite sides of the gutter of a double-page spread that shows a simply depicted girl in a dress, with hair in sticking-out braids and arms full of books, moving briskly across the library. Bold black outlines the little librarian and her avian assistants, all of whom are the same goldenrod color as the library walls and the outside-of-the-windows stars. The third color in the tricolor prints is a deep blue, consistently coloring the many books shelved throughout the pages. The little librarian and her assistants cheerfully accommodate musical squirrels who disrupt silent readers, a wolf who weeps over a sad part in a book (“she was crying so much her tears fell like rain”) and a tortoise whose slow reading threatens to keep the library open past its dawn closing hour. The text and artwork do not miss a beat as the closing spread shows the little librarian and her assistants reading a bedtime story. The book-and-star-themed endpapers add to the charm.
Original, imaginative and perfect for naptime or bedtime. (Picture book. 2-6)Pub Date: June 17, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-59643-985-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
More gift book than storybook, this is a meaningful addition to nursery bookshelves
A young child explores the unlimited potential inherent in all humans.
“Have you ever wondered why you are here?” asks the second-person narration. There is no one like you. Maybe you’re here to make a difference with your uniqueness; maybe you will speak for those who can’t or use your gifts to shine a light into the darkness. The no-frills, unrhymed narrative encourages readers to follow their hearts and tap into their limitless potential to be anything and do anything. The precisely inked and colored artwork plays with perspective from the first double-page spread, in which the child contemplates a mountain (or maybe an iceberg) in their hands. Later, they stand on a ladder to place white spots on tall, red mushrooms. The oversized flora and fauna seem to symbolize the presumptively insurmountable, reinforcing the book’s message that anything is possible. This quiet read, with its sophisticated central question, encourages children to reach for their untapped potential while reminding them it won’t be easy—they will make messes and mistakes—but the magic within can help overcome falls and failures. It’s unlikely that members of the intended audience have begun to wonder about their life’s purpose, but this life-affirming mood piece has honorable intentions. The child, accompanied by an adorable piglet and sporting overalls and a bird-beaked cap made of leaves, presents white.
More gift book than storybook, this is a meaningful addition to nursery bookshelves . (Picture book. 2-8)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-946873-75-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: May 21, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2019
Momo longed to carry the blue umbrella and wear the bright red rubber boots she had been given on her third birthday. But day after day Indian summer continued. Momo tried to tell mother she needed to carry the umbrella to nursery school because the sunshine bothered her eyes. But Mother didn't let her use the umbrella then or when she said the wind bothered her. At last, though, rain fell on the city pavements and Momo carried her umbrella and wore her red boots to school. One feels the urgency of Momo's wish. The pictures are full of the city's moods and the child's joy in a rainy day.
Pub Date: March 1, 1958
ISBN: 978-0-14-050240-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Dec. 9, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1958
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