A rhythmic reassurance of unconditional love worth reading time and again…and again.
A pledge: From birth to forever, a caregiver will be there for their child.
These three-line stanzas that alternately begin or end with the line “I’ll hold your hand” almost create a parenting vow, not unlike a marriage vow. “I’ll hold your hand” from the “night you arrive / when the whole world comes alive”; in good times, like vacations and snow days, and bad, “when goodbyes are a bummer” that create tantrums or “on your first night away / if you decide not to stay”; in sickness and in health. Each double-page spread features a different caregiver-and-child pair traveling together through the rites of passage, like learning to walk, camping out, the first day of school, and a broken heart. One spread even transposes the adult-child roles when it is the child who holds the hand of the snoring, bearded adult who conked out while reading to the child: “When you’re counting sheep, / and you’re falling asleep, / I’ll hold your hand.” Look carefully. The book in the illustration is this very book. “In the spring or the fall, / when you’re feeling small, / or for no reason at all, / I’ll hold your hand,” the book concludes, adding a third rhyme as a grace note. Although there is no reason to assume that all the families shown are headed by a single adult, all illustrations include only one caregiver and one child, all living in a racially diverse community. Illustrations also include a child in a wheelchair and a mother wearing a hijab. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A rhythmic reassurance of unconditional love worth reading time and again…and again. (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: Oct. 26, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-374-31413-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Safe to creep on by.
Carle’s famous caterpillar expresses its love.
In three sentences that stretch out over most of the book’s 32 pages, the (here, at least) not-so-ravenous larva first describes the object of its love, then describes how that loved one makes it feel before concluding, “That’s why… / I[heart]U.” There is little original in either visual or textual content, much of it mined from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. “You are… / …so sweet,” proclaims the caterpillar as it crawls through the hole it’s munched in a strawberry; “…the cherry on my cake,” it says as it perches on the familiar square of chocolate cake; “…the apple of my eye,” it announces as it emerges from an apple. Images familiar from other works join the smiling sun that shone down on the caterpillar as it delivers assurances that “you make… / …the sun shine brighter / …the stars sparkle,” and so on. The book is small, only 7 inches high and 5 ¾ inches across when closed—probably not coincidentally about the size of a greeting card. While generations of children have grown up with the ravenous caterpillar, this collection of Carle imagery and platitudinous sentiment has little of his classic’s charm. The melding of Carle’s caterpillar with Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE on the book’s cover, alas, draws further attention to its derivative nature.
Safe to creep on by. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-448-48932-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A tale of intergenerational bonding to be shared by grandparents and grandchildren.
In talk-show host Fallon and illustrator Ordóñez’s latest picture-book collaboration, an elderly pooch waxes rhapsodic about a life well lived.
Observing Papa sitting in his chair watching TV all day, a young pup says, “I’m starting to think…you don’t do ANYTHING.” So Papa proceeds to list his accomplishments, both big and small, mundane and profound. Some are just a result of being older and physically bigger (being tall enough to reach a high shelf and strong enough to open jars); others include winning a race and performing in a band when he was younger. Eventually, the pup realizes that while Papa may have slowed down in his old age, he’s led a full life. The most satisfying thing about Papa’s life now? Watching his grandchild take center stage: “I can say lots of thoughts / but I choose to be quiet. / I’d rather you discover things and then try it.” Fallon’s straightforward text is sweetly upbeat, though it occasionally lacks flow, forcing incongruous situations together to fit the rhyme scheme (“I cook and I mow, / and I once flew a plane. // I play newspaper puzzles because it’s good for my brain”). Featuring uncluttered, colorful backgrounds, Ordóñez’s child-friendly digital art at times takes on sepia tones, evoking the sense of looking back at old photos or memories. Though the creators tread familiar ground, the love between Papa and his little one is palpable.
A tale of intergenerational bonding to be shared by grandparents and grandchildren. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 13, 2025
ISBN: 9781250393975
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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