Gratifying permission to pause and dwell in the “very quiet quiet.”
Amid an increasingly hectic world, Maclear presents a convincing treatise on the importance of doing nothing at all.
Relying on plainspoken but soulful language, the author proposes ways to take a break. Her ideas are by turns practical, dreamy, and even a tad absurd. Maybe you can stand barefoot in the soil, becoming a “climbing structure for creatures in the garden,” or “imagine drifting to the ocean floor.” Perhaps you’ll “assume the shrubbyness of a shrub” or “the corneryness of a corner.” Some suggestions, like becoming an “ancient mountain,” seem rooted in yoga. Others, like becoming a “sea sponge, soaking everything in and then letting it go again,” feel influenced by mindfulness and meditation techniques. By the end, some readers’ interest may wane as the prompts begin to blur together, potentially making them less useful, but overall, Maclear’s framing—presenting idleness as praiseworthy, not slothful—is delectably subversive. Relying on a surprisingly flashy, near-neon palette, Subisak’s art, rendered in watercolor, ink, crayon, and colored pencil, is upbeat and good-natured, though boisterous for a guidebook on subdued, often internal pursuits. Nevertheless, unexpected color contrasts, frequent perspective changes, and creative imagery feel appropriately dreamy. The protagonist demonstrating the ideas is brown-skinned with black hair.
Gratifying permission to pause and dwell in the “very quiet quiet.” (Picture book. 5-10)Pub Date: Sept. 22, 2026
ISBN: 9780593181980
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Random House Studio
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books.
Curious about the Big Wide World outside his Sasquatch community, Hugo makes a friend who is of it.
Sasquatch Hugo’s bedroom is inside a cave and possesses the charming feature of a small stream running through it that he can sail his little toy boat on. It’s cool, but he yearns to see the Big Wide World. When he asks his smart friend Gigi if a Sasquatch might become a sailor, she says it’s possible but would be difficult—the primary rule of their people is to not be seen by Humans. Then, in everyone’s favorite Hide and Go Sneak class, which is held outside, a Human appears; Hugo laughs at the sight, drawing Human attention in a taboo-breaking mistake. Shortly after, Hugo’s toy boat floats into the cave with a Human toy—soon, it’s facilitating a pen-pal–type relationship that’s derailed when Hugo confesses to being a Sasquatch and Human Boone, a budding cryptozoologist, doesn’t believe him. How Hugo and Boone resolve this misapprehension and become friends in a joint search for the Ogopogo concludes this series opener. Potter keeps the third-person narrative tightly focused on Hugo’s perspective, and the details she uses to flesh out the Sasquatch world are delightfully playful. Sala’s drawings depict a homey Sasquatch cavern community, Boone as a freckled, white boy, and Hugo as a hairily benevolent behemoth.
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books. (final art unseen) (Fantasy. 5-9)Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2859-4
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
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