Fans of Jenny Slate’s Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2011) will find a kindred spirit in the stalwart glacier that eats...
The oft-told tale of a child who yearns for a pet and a creature that craves a human gets a new twist when the latter is a baby glacier.
This chip—off a block named Cecilsmater—latches on to Ruby during a family vacation in Norway. The child’s classmates already taunt her about her unusual parents, so she really doesn't need a glacier tagging along behind her. Mrs. Small designs tiaras; Mr. Small creates topiaries. These artsy adults also tango on the front lawn, leaving Ruby mortified. Her main consolation is derived from the companionship of “The Three Jennifers,” dolls that look and dress exactly like Ruby. She shuns the loyal ice floe and ignores her parents’ encouragement, until Cecil performs a dramatic doll rescue during a thunderstorm—at great personal peril. Harvey’s alliteration adds humor to this saga of tension ’twixt the generations. “ ‘Welcome, Smalls,’ a blue-haired man named Sven sa[ys] severely,” when the family registers for snowmobiles in Horfensnufen. Potter’s watercolor caricatures, with their tiny feet and restrained demeanors, enact their story in scenes with skewed perspectives and strong diagonals, choices that heighten the absurdity. Ultimately, Ruby learns to appreciate her pet’s coolness; consequently, she attracts a new friend, and in her newfound happiness, she relates more lovingly to her family.
Fans of Jenny Slate’s Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2011) will find a kindred spirit in the stalwart glacier that eats pebbles and wears a tiara. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 14, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-375-86773-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: May 29, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2012
Emotionally stunning.
A young girl misses her urban home by the sea but soon discovers an unlikely friend who helps her to adjust.
After Katherena and her mom settle into their new rural home, Katherena visits the neighboring house and meets aging neighbor Agnes, an artist who works in clay. The seasons flow one into another. Katherena draws what she sees and grows ever closer to Agnes. Agnes tells Katherena about her art and about rural life; Katherena shares Cree words with Agnes. By the time it is fall, she’s helping Agnes in her garden. However, by winter, Agnes has become too weak to be outside much. Katherena and her mother make a salmon stew that Katherena takes over for Agnes and her daughter to enjoy. When spring returns again, Agnes continues to weaken, but Katherena has a plan to help her friend enjoy spring without going outside. Flett’s simple story explores the difficulties of moving but also shows young readers how new friends can sometimes ease them; that this friendship is an intergenerational one between fellow artists is an especially sweet touch. Flett (Cree/Métis) employs her characteristically minimalist style, placing Katherena against flat expanses of greensward that changes with the seasons, birds wheeling above in silhouette. Katherena and her mom both have brown skin and straight, black hair; Agnes has brown skin as well, but she does not speak Cree.
Emotionally stunning. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 24, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-77164-473-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Greystone Kids
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2019
Long-winded but uplifting nonetheless.
Comedian, singer, and YouTube star Rainbow urges readers not to let others dim their light.
Young Randy Rainbow lives life out loud. While his classmates wear “dull blue jeans and drab T-shirts,” he sports “brightly colored three-piece suits and sparkly bow ties,” paints his nails, and listens to Broadway albums. After being called a “weirdo” at school, he tries to tamp down his sparkly side. While helping his grandmother sort through some of her old belongings, he stumbles across a pair of magical cat-eye glasses that, according to Nanny, allow whoever puts them on to “be anything and anywhere [they] want.” After rocking the glasses at school and a number of other locations, Randy becomes popular and confident, but when he breaks them on the way to a birthday party, he’s despondent. Nanny reveals that the glasses never had any powers; the magic was in Randy all along. While the message about being true to oneself is an important one, the unevenly paced, wordy text often tells more than it shows. At times it feels as though the author’s trying to pad out a somewhat thin story; multiple examples of Randy sporting his new specs in a variety of scenarios drag quite a bit. Swirls of pink feature prominently in MacGibbon’s cartoon illustrations. Randy and Nanny are pale-skinned; hints in the text suggest that they may be Jewish.
Long-winded but uplifting nonetheless. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: May 27, 2025
ISBN: 9781250900777
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: March 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025
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