A story of a girl, a cottage, and a family tradition that begs to be visited again and again.
Like a cottage quilt, rhythmic stanzas and vintage-style illustrations are stitched together with memories and love.
Lyrical, not-quite-rhyming text tells the simple yet touching story of a girl with brown skin and straight, black hair who visits a special blue cottage every summer with her interracial family. Shared activities (waterskiing, beach play, and cycling) and meals (pancakes) convey the closeness in this family. In the summer, the girl escapes the warm cottage to play on the beach; during torrential storms, she hides within the cottage walls, peering out at the high whitecaps. The cottage, serving as a secondary character, awaits the girl’s return each year, as well as the sights, sounds, and smells that accompany her visit. Alternating between vignettes and broad spreads, illustrations that recall the stylings of Virginia Lee Burton and Barbara Cooney have the texture and appearance of colored pencil. Muted earth tones dominate, and prints and patterns also adorn each thoughtfully composed spread, adding to the layered visual appeal of the book. Eventually the girl grows up and no longer visits, and the cottage falls into neglect, nearly disappearing into the surrounding vegetation. The book ends as it began, with a second multiracial generation returning to the little blue cottage, to restore its timeless splendor and build new memories.
A story of a girl, a cottage, and a family tradition that begs to be visited again and again. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: May 12, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-62414-923-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Page Street
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
Exuding a zest for living and loving, this nautical narrative is an ode to joy.
In this tender story, a newborn duckling experiences music as sweet solace and meaningful communication while searching for love.
Moments before a “sudden and mighty gale whipped the seas into a raging fury,” a beaming Capt. Alfred had bestowed a name on the fragile egg nestled in his violin case—a present for his wife. The jovial bald white man had fiddled for his crew (ducks and dog), leading them in a merry, anticipatory dance. As stirring language and sweeping brush strokes conjure a fearsome tempest, a capsized boat, and a silent fog, everything disappears. Eventually Alfred Fiddleduckling emerges, floating along in an open violin case, reaching out to caress a piece of flotsam: the fiddle; he continues to interact with it after reaching land, captivated by its voice. The sounds from the instrument, rendered in acrylics as swirls of brilliant, feathery colors, waft through the dense atmosphere, finding first the dog and then the captain’s anxious wife (also white). Ering replaces words with visual clues to suggest homecoming, thereby avoiding a too-tidy conclusion. The vibrant yellow of the protagonist merges with the home’s brilliant illumination in the final scene. Layered with energetic paint strokes, delicate ink drawings, and warm touches of charcoal and graphite, the compositions are full of high drama, nuanced emotion, and humor.
Exuding a zest for living and loving, this nautical narrative is an ode to joy. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6432-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
In the end, family love wins out.
Siblings often disagree, even bunny brothers and sisters.
When Brayden’s friend Lena visits, he becomes upset because Lena plays with his two sisters first. He scoffs at their stereotypical girl games, but when they play gender-neutral hide-and-seek, he still won’t join. He had wanted to show Lena his “secret hiding place today—the one with the carrots.” Brayden’s jealousy prevents him from having fun until badger Benny comes to play with trains. Inexplicably and problematically, Benny wears a cowboy hat, and Brayden sports a feathered headdress as they play. When Benny mentions that a storm is brewing, suddenly Brayden thinks about the girls. He tells his friend that he must find them because they are “scared stiff of thunder.” Benny can’t understand the bunny’s anxiety, but Brayden resolutely states: “Brothers and sisters have to look out for one another.” The girls are not so happy to be the object of Brayden’s concern, however, and reveal that he is also afraid of thunderstorms. Back in their cozy living room, Brayden hands out carrots from his secret cache, and Mommy comes home to find her children happy with each other once again. While the story takes a great many words (set in fairly small print) to tell and is a little saccharine, the accomplished watercolor illustrations are quite engaging, full of detailed European woodland flora and fauna.
In the end, family love wins out. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: March 7, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7358-4279-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: NorthSouth
Review Posted Online: Dec. 20, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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