A fresh and funny take on an old moral.
A young artist learns that our inner worlds are more than what meets the eye.
An unnamed child is on a seemingly simple mission: to draw a bunch of birds and sketch a house for each of them. At first, the brown-skinned protagonist’s creative process is fairly straightforward, matching each avian to a home that shares their physical characteristics. “Red for red,” the narrator explains, and “tall for tall.” Readers receive a bird’s-eye view of the drawings, rendered in perfect, youthful splendor by Juanita. Despite the child’s best efforts, the birds don’t seem to agree with their housing assignments. Blue Bird and Orange Bird want to swap spots while Large Bird prefers a tiny abode. Ducks may typically be found in ponds, but the young artist’s duck “[doesn’t] swim, man.” As the discerning birds and their maker argue, the frustrated child soon realizes that the birds’ unexpected preferences are not the issue—the artist’s own assumptions are. Instead of guessing based on presuppositions, the protagonist learns that simply asking is the best way to know what someone likes. Interactions among the child and their artistic subjects are depicted in Juanita’s expressive signature style; her use of texture, color, and detail is the book’s highlight. They expand on Maynor’s thoughtful—if rather clunky—narrative, together comically teaching youth to let others define themselves and avoid the pitfalls of inadvertent stereotyping. (This book was reviewed digitally with 9-by-22-inch double-page spreads viewed at 14.1% of actual size.)
A fresh and funny take on an old moral. (Picture book. 5-10)Pub Date: Feb. 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-984896-48-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2020
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books.
Curious about the Big Wide World outside his Sasquatch community, Hugo makes a friend who is of it.
Sasquatch Hugo’s bedroom is inside a cave and possesses the charming feature of a small stream running through it that he can sail his little toy boat on. It’s cool, but he yearns to see the Big Wide World. When he asks his smart friend Gigi if a Sasquatch might become a sailor, she says it’s possible but would be difficult—the primary rule of their people is to not be seen by Humans. Then, in everyone’s favorite Hide and Go Sneak class, which is held outside, a Human appears; Hugo laughs at the sight, drawing Human attention in a taboo-breaking mistake. Shortly after, Hugo’s toy boat floats into the cave with a Human toy—soon, it’s facilitating a pen-pal–type relationship that’s derailed when Hugo confesses to being a Sasquatch and Human Boone, a budding cryptozoologist, doesn’t believe him. How Hugo and Boone resolve this misapprehension and become friends in a joint search for the Ogopogo concludes this series opener. Potter keeps the third-person narrative tightly focused on Hugo’s perspective, and the details she uses to flesh out the Sasquatch world are delightfully playful. Sala’s drawings depict a homey Sasquatch cavern community, Boone as a freckled, white boy, and Hugo as a hairily benevolent behemoth.
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books. (final art unseen) (Fantasy. 5-9)Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2859-4
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
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