A wry twist of the adage, “If pigs could fly” and the axiom, “Be true to yourself.” Caramba looks like any other cat but he is different—he can’t fly! Taunted by the other cats, his many attempts all fail so he gives up, wondering what is wrong with him. One day his cousins Bijou and Bug give him a flying lesson by holding his paws between them as they fly, and Caramba experiences the thrill of soaring in the air. “Don’t be a scaredy cat,” they cry as they let go, and Caramba flies—straight down into the ocean where he glides through the water, which feels just like flying: Caramba could swim! Airy, wavy watercolor, pencil and pastel illustrations blithely detail the trouser- or dress-wearing cats. Gay’s fluid lines and style, similar to her Sam and Stella books, are what make the quirky story appealing. Adults may wonder why the cat is named Caramba—there’s seemingly no rhyme or reason—but kids won’t care; they’ll enjoy his flight of discovery. (Picture book. 4-7)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-88899-667-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2005
Give this child’s-eye view of a day at the beach with an attentive father high marks for coziness: “When your ball blows across the sand and into the ocean and starts to drift away, your daddy could say, Didn’t I tell you not to play too close to the waves? But he doesn’t. He wades out into the cold water. And he brings your ball back to the beach and plays roll and catch with you.” Alley depicts a moppet and her relaxed-looking dad (to all appearances a single parent) in informally drawn beach and domestic settings: playing together, snuggling up on the sofa and finally hugging each other goodnight. The third-person voice is a bit distancing, but it makes the togetherness less treacly, and Dad’s mix of love and competence is less insulting, to parents and children both, than Douglas Wood’s What Dads Can’t Do (2000), illus by Doug Cushman. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: May 23, 2005
ISBN: 0-618-00361-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2005
A valuable asset to the library of a child who experiences anxiety and a great book to get children talking about their...
Ruby is an adventurous and happy child until the day she discovers a Worry.
Ruby barely sees the Worry—depicted as a blob of yellow with a frowny unibrow—at first, but as it hovers, the more she notices it and the larger it grows. The longer Ruby is affected by this Worry, the fewer colors appear on the page. Though she tries not to pay attention to the Worry, which no one else can see, ignoring it prevents her from enjoying the things that she once loved. Her constant anxiety about the Worry causes the bright yellow blob to crowd Ruby’s everyday life, which by this point is nearly all washes of gray and white. But at the playground, Ruby sees a boy sitting on a bench with a growing sky-blue Worry of his own. When she invites the boy to talk, his Worry begins to shrink—and when Ruby talks about her own Worry, it also grows smaller. By the book’s conclusion, Ruby learns to control her Worry by talking about what worries her, a priceless lesson for any child—or adult—conveyed in a beautifully child-friendly manner. Ruby presents black, with hair in cornrows and two big afro-puff pigtails, while the boy has pale skin and spiky black hair.
A valuable asset to the library of a child who experiences anxiety and a great book to get children talking about their feelings (. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5476-0237-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
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