Wish fulfilled, if a tad inscrutably.
A much-wanted child arrives as fulfillment of his parents’ dearest wish.
Neither a where-do-babies-come-from book nor one about sibling adjustment to a new baby, this fanciful treatment of parental longing for a baby seems aimed at adults more than children. The text is delivered in direct address to an unnamed “you” who’s at first absent from the would-be parents’ lives. Perhaps in an attempt to tilt the story toward child-friendliness, the adults in question are an anthropomorphic elephant couple. As they begin to notice others with babies (birds in a nest, another elephant pushing a stroller), they start to wish, plan, learn and build. Pictures eschew crib-assembly or other traditional baby-planning preparations to show the couple building a boat and setting sail, as if for some island cabbage patch where they might find an elephant’s child. In a poignant twist, the journey doesn’t immediately fulfill their baby wish, and they return home saddened but resilient. When a baby does arrive, suddenly parting the seas like a tiny pachyderm Moses in a sailboat, the parents are thrilled that their baby is “HERE.” The metaphorical use of boats and journeying to find a baby could lend itself to interpretations of the story as an adoption narrative, but this isn’t clearly indicated. Instead, cartoony art and spare text alike are most concerned with communicating longing and love.
Wish fulfilled, if a tad inscrutably. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: March 3, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4847-0875-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Jan. 9, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
It’s pretty, but it falls far short of authenticity.
A retelling of a Persian folktale substituting tigers for people.
A tiger cub lives in a stately home built by its father. In the center of the vast gardens there is a fountain that, to the surprise of the tiger cub’s friends, contains a pair of worn-out slippers. When the cub’s friends ask why the slippers are there, the tiger’s father explains that when he was younger, he and his mother were impoverished. His mother—the tiger cub’s grandmother—made the slippers for him as an act of love. As the tiger grew older, wealthier, and more successful, he was repeatedly told that his worn, old slippers were not appropriate for his new station in life. Although he agreed, no matter how many times he tried to get rid of his slippers, they always managed to find a way back to him. Eventually, the tiger’s uncle helps him find a way to keep his slippers—and his memories of his past—without sacrificing his future. Done in Brett’s signature, paneled style, the book’s illustrations, while vibrant, read more like Western picture-book illustrations than the Mughal miniature style the author claims as her inspiration. Furthermore, although they are beautifully detailed, at times, the number of panels makes the pages feel crowded. The text is well paced, but Brett’s choice to retell the folktale using animals instead of people comes across as exoticizing at a time when the current Indian government is systematically erasing Muslim, particularly Mughal, history.
It’s pretty, but it falls far short of authenticity. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-399-17074-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Charming and spirited.
Dynamic visual design distinguishes this tale of sibling conflict in an immigrant family.
Running home from school, Rubina tells Ami (mom) the thrilling news of a birthday-party invitation. This concept’s new to Ami, but the real problem is younger sister Sana, who demands to attend as well. Ami agrees. Pouting all the way, Rubina takes Sana, who not only disrupts the games but eats both her own and Rubina’s big red lollipop party favor. Blackall’s peppy watercolor-and-pencil illustrations hum with vibrancy and a wonderful sense of children in constant motion. Every page shows fresh composition and scale. When the justifiably resentful Rubina chases Sana around the house, the pair of wee figures shows up eight times on that spread, racing from spot to spot like Hilary Knight’s Eloise. Then Sana receives an invitation herself and Ami almost makes her take even-younger sister Maryam along—but Rubina’s intervention prevents that, and Sana brings Rubina a big green lollipop in gratitude. They’re friends now, though it’s unknown whether the invitations that Rubina stopped receiving due to Sana’s antics ever recommence.
Charming and spirited. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: March 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-670-06287-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2010
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