Despite some vagueness and inconsistency, this visual treat could be surprisingly successful for self-soothing.
Feelings link with colors in conjunction with meditation techniques.
Children are enjoying a meadow. They’re chasing butterflies, examining ladybugs, eating ice cream, feeling the breeze, reclining on the grass. The racially diverse kids seem simultaneously peaceful and energized. Chopra connects physical sensations with emotions: “Have you ever felt butterflies in your stomach when you are scared…?” (The notion that butterflies might also indicate excitement is missing, though tingling hands could be such an indicator.) Asserting that “when you know how your body reacts to your feelings, you can control your reactions and feel powerful,” the text assigns a color for each feeling and a suggestion for control. Breath awareness is yellow. Red wafts through the scene about groundedness: “Feel your bottom resting under you. Do you feel how the chair or floor is strong and stable?” Readers who don't know their chakras may find some surprises. Coding safety as red is nonstandard in the U.S. (doesn’t red signal danger or stop?), as is, arguably, coding the heart-based feelings of happiness and sadness as green; these striking hue associations could be difficult to jump into—or they could be the hook. There’s some murkiness and irregularity in the connections among metaphor, physical sensations, and emotional feelings. However, Burton’s illustrations of swirling colors, keen-edged characters, just enough rainbows, and gently enchanting backgrounds—bananas and pie float through yellow’s “I am strong” spread—really do bring a sense of wonder and power.
Despite some vagueness and inconsistency, this visual treat could be surprisingly successful for self-soothing. (Picture book. 4-9)Pub Date: July 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7624-9904-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Running Press Kids
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.
Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This lacks the information of other nonfiction titles and the pizzazz of April Pulley Sayre’s Go, Go, Grapes! (2012), but it...
The prolific Gibbons tackles fruits—how they grow, their parts, and what portions we eat.
Beginning with facts about perennial and annual fruits and how many servings children should aim for each day, the book then looks at how fruits can grow on plants, bushes, vines, and trees. Good vocabulary is introduced and defined along the way—botanist, pollination, cultivated. The middle of the book is taken up by individual looks at 13 different kinds of fruits that show cutaway views labeled with parts, the whole plant/bush/vine/tree, and some of the popular varieties—for grapes, golden muscat, red flame, and concord. This is followed by a discussion of growing seasons and climates, large farms versus backyard ones, harvesting fruit and getting it to market, and some other fruits that were not featured in the text, including star fruits, apricots, and persimmons. A final page lists more fruit facts and two websites (one for the United States, one for Canada) about food guidelines. The text sometimes gets lost in Gibbons’ busy and full pages, and while her illustrations are detailed and specific for each type of fruit, the watercolors won’t make mouths water.
This lacks the information of other nonfiction titles and the pizzazz of April Pulley Sayre’s Go, Go, Grapes! (2012), but it may be just the ticket before a school trip to a farm. (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: May 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3204-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2015
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