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
An imaginatively designed lesson in creativity and loss.
When a creative rabbit disappears after spreading color and music through the woods, other rabbits feel a sense of loss until they discover what he left behind.
Rabbit enjoys “rabbity” things, like hopping, jumping, twirling his whiskers, washing his ears, burrowing and sleeping, but he also enjoys “unrabbity” things, like painting and music. Rabbit fills “the woods with color and music,” and his happiness spreads everywhere. But when Rabbit disappears, the woods turn “quiet and gray,” and the rabbits feel sad—until they find the paints, brushes, chimes, pipes and drums Rabbit left for them. They use Rabbit’s gifts to create their own color and music, remember him and feel happy. The repetitive, spare text works beautifully with expressive watercolor illustrations that rely on pattern and color to stress the connection between creativity and happiness. If Rabbit’s doing “rabbity” things, his black silhouette appears as a subdued shape in a tiny green grass patch on a pure white background. If he’s painting or making music, his black form wields brushes and blows a giant pipe against an energized background that explodes with multicolor splashes and musical notes. After Rabbit disappears, everything’s black, white and gray; when the rabbits begin painting and making music, pages teem with whimsical color and pattern.
An imaginatively designed lesson in creativity and loss. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-84643-492-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Child's Play
Review Posted Online: Sept. 11, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2012
A sweet picture-book treatment of penguins and parenting.
A solitary penguin wishes for companionship and gets a little more than she bargained for.
Alone on a patch of ice, a penguin “enjoy[s] the peace and quiet,” but then loneliness sets in. In a lucky twist of fate, a top hat akin to one a magician might wear drifts by, “[a]nd from that hat popped a little penguin!” But then, evoking the folkloric magic porridge pot, the hat ends up holding a seemingly endless succession of little penguins. “Now the penguin wasn’t lonely anymore,” the text reports, and scenes of baby penguins frolicking about, making a snowman, playing with an array of rainbow-colored balls and a colorful string of scarves ensue. A crowded, wordless double-page spread shows the now “very, very busy” penguin trying to keep up with her crèche, with the page turn showing her collapsed on her belly, “[a]nd more than a bit tired.” She decides that she needs something: “[j]ust a minute to herself.” This line ends up feeling like a bit of heavy-handed validation aimed at weary parents, with the ultimate, reassuring message being that everyone needs alone time but that “being together… / is a lot more fun!” Despite this tonal shift, watercolor illustrations delight in the penguins’ sheer cuteness, staying just this side of twee.
A sweet picture-book treatment of penguins and parenting. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Dec. 6, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-399-25535-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Oct. 9, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
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