A love letter to new friendships and apartment living.
A new resident changes the comforting rhythm of life in a young girl’s apartment.
Five-year-old Agnes knows absolutely everything about the inhabitants of her bustling apartment building. She’s attuned to the smallest sounds and slightest smells that tell her what someone is baking, building, cleaning, or celebrating. Then Agnes’ perfectly orderly world is turned upside down when Anna moves into the building. Agnes loves the idea of a new friend, but what if Anna doesn’t want to be friends? What if Anna’s presence means Agnes becomes less important in her world? Translated from Norwegian, the third-person narration is compelling and understandable for American audiences while visual cultural markers are glimpsed here and there. The complexity of Agnes’ emotions is communicated with small details in her here and now. With the exception of a couple small storytelling hiccups (readers will wonder why Anna never reaches out to Agnes), the text and illustrations work in tandem to bring the magic of apartment living and new friendship to life. Shapes, lines, and colors create movement and a strong visual throughline, helping readers’ eyes navigate detailed illustrations full of the messy, vibrant elements of life. Patterns and textures add another layer of cozy charm. Agnes is depicted with black hair and light brown skin while Anna has pale skin and blond hair. The apartment residents appear mostly White with the exception of one Black neighbor. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at 73.8% of actual size.)
A love letter to new friendships and apartment living. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5420-2675-8
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Amazon Crossing Kids
Review Posted Online: Dec. 24, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2021
Gently models kindness and respect—positive behavior that can be applied daily.
A group of young “dinosauruses” go out into the world on their own.
A fuchsia little Hugasaurus and her Pappysaur (both of whom resemble Triceratops) have never been apart before, but Hugasaurus happily heads off with lunchbox in hand and “wonder in her heart” to make new friends. The story has a first-day-of-school feeling, but Hugasaurus doesn’t end up in a formal school environment; rather, she finds herself on a playground with other little prehistoric creatures, though no teacher or adult seems to be around. At first, the new friends laugh and play. But Hugasaurus’ pals begin to squabble, and play comes to a halt. As she wonders what to do, a fuzzy platypus playmate asks some wise questions (“What…would your Pappy say to do? / What makes YOU feel better?”), and Hugasaurus decides to give everyone a hug—though she remembers to ask permission first. Slowly, good humor is restored and play begins anew with promises to be slow to anger and, in general, to help create a kinder world. Short rhyming verses occasionally use near rhyme but also include fun pairs like ripples and double-triples. Featuring cozy illustrations of brightly colored creatures, the tale sends a strong message about appropriate and inappropriate ways to resolve conflict, the final pages restating the lesson plainly in a refrain that could become a classroom motto. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Gently models kindness and respect—positive behavior that can be applied daily. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Dec. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-338-82869-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2022
A straightforward, effective approach to helping children cope with one of life’s commonplace yet emotionally fraught...
A child struggles with the worry and anxiety that come with an unexpected problem.
In a wonderful balance of text and pictures, the team responsible for What Do You Do With an Idea (2014) returns with another book inspiring children to feel good about themselves. A child frets about a problem that won’t go away: “I wished it would just disappear. I tried everything I could to hide from it. I even found ways to disguise myself. But it still found me.” The spare, direct narrative is accompanied by soft gray illustrations in pencil and watercolor. The sepia-toned figure of the child is set apart from the background and surrounded by lots of white space, visually isolating the problem, which is depicted as a purple storm cloud looming overhead. Color is added bit by bit as the storm cloud grows and its color becomes more saturated. With a backpack and umbrella, the child tries to escape the problem while the storm swirls, awash with compass points scattered across the pages. The pages brighten into splashes of yellow as the child decides to tackle the problem head-on and finds that it holds promise for unlooked-for opportunity.
A straightforward, effective approach to helping children cope with one of life’s commonplace yet emotionally fraught situations, this belongs on the shelf alongside Molly Bang’s Sophie books. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-943-20000-9
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2016
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