Lam’s words and drawings offer tangible evidence to the intangible love between siblings.
For the first time, a boy walks his younger sister home all by himself.
Big brother is proud of his newfound responsibility: walking his little sister home from the school bus stop. He takes his duty very seriously as he tries to keep up with his sister’s boundless energy. The narrator keeps a watchful eye on little sister as she picks up trinkets, chases dogs, and hides from squirrels. Even though he thinks the trinkets she collects are trash, he doesn’t discourage her curiosity. He thoughtfully answers her many questions. The siblings stop for a quick game of medieval knights, dueling with tree branches. Little sister slips on a puddle when their walk is interrupted by a thunderstorm. Big brother soothes her and they make it home after the storm passes. Lam captures the earnest relationship between young siblings. Her soft-colored pencil-and-watercolor illustrations flow with little sister’s energy. Young readers will relate to the siblings’ animated reactions to each part of their walk. Her characters’ simple facial features are boldly expressive with just a few lines. Asian-American Lam’s siblings and mom are black-haired and golden-skinned, though their physiognomies are ethnically ambiguous.
Lam’s words and drawings offer tangible evidence to the intangible love between siblings. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: May 10, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-239697-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet cetacean story.
The flora and fauna of the ocean respond to a lonely whale’s beautiful music by helping him find another whale.
“Whale’s song was so beautiful it could reach the farthest of faraways.” Over a double-page spread, a simply drawn white whale—detailed with a large eye, a small mouth and fins, and a small lavender heart—swims past a variety of pastel-hued sea denizens. The lyrical text is set in type that emulates hand-lettering. Watercolors are the appropriate choice for a tale that occurs in a sea full of creatures—with an occasional glimpse of land and sky as well as a cheerfully colored sailboat and lighthouse. Collage, pencil sketching, and washes produce a dreamlike effect that also feels sweetly humorous. A double-page spread of sea horses lounging atop spirited jellyfish is especially whimsical. Musical terms are cleverly used to describe the singing whale’s positive effects on others (“a cheerful symphony for a sad urchin”). After several pages of poetic lines about the talented singer, readers learn that his heart feels “empty.” The ocean carries his sighing wish across miles of lovingly rendered sea habitats until the solo becomes a duet. Although the flap copy speaks of friendship, even the youngest of readers will sense that this is a whale of a romance. Beneath its warmth is a poignant reminder of the loss to all if whale songs become history.
A sweet cetacean story. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-984-83627-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
Gently encourages empathy, compassion, and consideration.
How will you behave tomorrow?
Utilizing the same format and concept of her popular Tomorrow I’ll Be Brave (2018), Hische presents young listeners with short, studied rhymes that describe various positive attributes (being helpful, patient, gentle, honest, generous, graceful, and kind). Also included are kid-friendly ways to incorporate these behaviors into daily life, with the underlying goal of making the world a better place. The illustrations, which feature friends in the forms of a mouse, cat, and rabbit, are colorful and appealing, and they extend the text by showing some additional ways of realizing the characteristics mentioned. Overall, the intentions are aboveboard, but this is a volume intended to teach about positive values and behavior, and as such, it comes across as somewhat treacly and proselytizing. The key words, incorporated into the illustrations in a graphic manner, are sometimes a bit difficult to read, and occasionally, select vocabulary and phrases (“to myself I will be true”; “my heart, my guiding light”) seem better suited for an older readership. Still, as an introduction to personality characteristics, beneficial behaviors, and social-emotional skills, this is a solid choice, and fans of the previous volume are likely to embrace this one as well. “I’ll dream of all the good that comes / when we all just do our best,” the text explains—a sentiment that’s hard to rebut.
Gently encourages empathy, compassion, and consideration. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Jan. 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5247-8704-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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