Nice for family sharing.
Using her large imagination, a little girl shows how much she loves her busy big sister.
Lizzie wants nothing more than to be and play with her big sister, Jane, who, Lizzie tells readers, has “the best imagination.” Alas, Jane’s also got a lot going on, what with her busy (arguably overprogrammed) schedule: in addition to homework and play dates with a friend, there are lessons and practice sessions in soccer, ballet, karate, and piano. What’s a sad, lonely sibling to do? Finally Lizzie hits on a plan to capture Jane’s attention and her precious time in a really spectacular way. The charming, expressive, digitally rendered illustrations follow Jane’s daily activities on double-page spreads while depicting Lizzie painstakingly portraying each day’s routines in picture-story form. On the appointed day, Lizzie amasses and displays her week’s artworks on and around several walls, to Jane’s amazement. But, unbeknownst to Lizzie, Jane has secretly created a wonderful surprise for her sibling as well. The sisters are white, but Sánchez places a multiracial bevy of children and adults in Jane’s many activities. While thin and exploring a well-trod concept—each sister’s unbreakable bond of love for the other—the telling is sweet, upbeat, and refreshing in presenting not a hint of rivalry or meanness. Young readers who enjoy loving sibling relationships in their own families will appreciate finding common ground here and may even pick up an idea or two.
Nice for family sharing. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 13, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-3795-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2017
A retro-futuristic romp, literally and figuratively screwy.
Robo-parents Diode and Lugnut present daughter Cathode with a new little brother—who requires, unfortunately, some assembly.
Arriving in pieces from some mechanistic version of Ikea, little Flange turns out to be a cute but complicated tyke who immediately falls apart…and then rockets uncontrollably about the room after an overconfident uncle tinkers with his basic design. As a squad of helpline techies and bevies of neighbors bearing sludge cake and like treats roll in, the cluttered and increasingly crowded scene deteriorates into madcap chaos—until at last Cath, with help from Roomba-like robodog Sprocket, stages an intervention by whisking the hapless new arrival off to a backyard workshop for a proper assembly and software update. “You’re such a good big sister!” warbles her frazzled mom. Wiesner’s robots display his characteristic clean lines and even hues but endearingly look like vaguely anthropomorphic piles of random jet-engine parts and old vacuum cleaners loosely connected by joints of armored cable. They roll hither and thither through neatly squared-off panels and pages in infectiously comical dismay. Even the end’s domestic tranquility lasts only until Cathode spots the little box buried in the bigger one’s packing material: “TWINS!” (This book was reviewed digitally with 9-by-22-inch double-page spreads viewed at 52% of actual size.)
A retro-futuristic romp, literally and figuratively screwy. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-544-98731-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: June 2, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2020
Maybe these kids should try babysitting Santa.
The creators of the bestselling How to Babysit a Grandpa (2012) and How to Babysit a Grandma (2014) continue their series with this story about a brother and sister who want to capture Santa on his annual visit to their home.
The children discuss improbable ideas for spotting or catching Santa, including a complicated sequence with notes to lure Santa up to their bedroom. They wait up for Santa, and a nighttime view of Santa and the reindeer on the neighborhood’s roofs makes his arrival seem imminent. Then, in a disappointing conclusion, the children fall asleep with no sign of Santa’s arrival. In the morning it’s clear Santa has been there, as the presents are under the tree and the cookies and carrots have been eaten. There is a trail of red glitter leading to the chimney from the letter the kids sent to Santa, but that’s the only surprise this story has to offer. Readers might be expecting some sort of exciting trap for Santa or some clever way the children get to meet him or ride in his sleigh. No…just a sprinkle of red glitter. Digitally produced illustration are bright and cheery, with cute kids and amusing details, but sharp-eyed readers will notice the decorated Christmas tree in the living room is inexplicably placed in four different locations on different pages.
Maybe these kids should try babysitting Santa. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 20, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-553-49839-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2015
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