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SMALL THINGS

Name: SMALL THINGS
Author: Mel Tregonning
ISBN: 978-1-77278-042-0

by Mel Tregonning ; illustrated by Mel Tregonning ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2018

A picture book that wants to be a graphic novel, and a message worthy of both.

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A young child deals with isolation and the escalation of worry in Tregonning’s posthumous wordless picture book.

Anxiety is more than a feeling in this visual narrative, more than the pressure of school tests, the loneliness of exclusion by classmates, or the fear of such shortcomings being discovered at home. Anxiety, represented here by ominously sharp swirls of black ink, has a visceral, visual gravitas—it grows to fill literal and figurative space as the young protagonist’s outlook progresses steadily downhill. Shouldering worry and shame while trying to hide both unsurprisingly takes its toll, and employing a touch of body horror, the barbs of worry that plague the protagonist begin actually to tear away at arms, legs, back, and head until the cracks can no longer be hidden. The poignant effects of an entirely black-and-white palette and masterful shifts in perspective are muddled by a dizzying layout of (sometimes-excessive) individual panels. Younger readers who gravitate toward wordless picture books or those with low contrast sensitivity may find it difficult to keep pace. Nonetheless, the refreshing visibility and validity of childhood pressures accompanied by the equally important realization that no one is alone in their experience of such strain balances the slight risk that readers might lose track of the narrative. The tousle-headed protagonist is depicted with pale skin and attends a fairly diverse school.

A picture book that wants to be a graphic novel, and a message worthy of both. (Picture book. 6-12)

Pub Date: March 1, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-77278-042-0

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Pajama Press

Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | GENERAL GRAPHIC NOVELS & COMICS

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GOOD NIGHT THOUGHTS

by Max Greenfield ; illustrated by James Serafino ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 3, 2024

Relatable guidance for nocturnal worriers.

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Actor and author Greenfield’s latest picture book follows a child kept awake by anxieties.

The pajama-clad narrator huddles in bed among the blue shadows of a bedroom at night. “Every time I close my eyes, I’m afraid of all the scary stuff I see.” Bright, candy-hued clouds of cartoon images surround the child, lively, disruptive depictions of the what-ifs and exaggerated disasters that crowd out sleep: war (we see the world pop “into a piece of popcorn”), kidnapping (pirates carry away the child’s teddy bear), falling “up” into the sun, tarantulas in the toilet, and a menacing-looking dentist. These outsize insomnia inducers may help readers put their own unvoiced concerns into perspective; after all, what frightens one person might seem silly but understandable to another. Our narrator tries to replace the unsettling thoughts with happy ones—hugging a baby panda, being serenaded by a choir of doughnuts, and “all the people who love me holding hands and wearing every piece of clothing that they own.” But sleep is still elusive. Finally, remembering that there’s a difference between reality and an overactive imagination, the child relaxes a bit: “Right now, everything is okay. And so am I.” Reassuring, though not exactly sedate, this tale will spark daytime discussions about how difficult it can be to quiet unsettling thoughts. The child has dark hair and blue-tinged skin, reflecting the darkness of the bedroom.

Relatable guidance for nocturnal worriers. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2024

ISBN: 9780593697894

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Putnam

Review Posted Online: May 31, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2024

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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I DON'T WANT TO READ THIS BOOK ALOUD
by Max Greenfield ; illustrated by Mike Lowery

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by Max Greenfield ; illustrated by Mike Lowery

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I DON'T WANT TO READ THIS BOOK
by Max Greenfield ; illustrated by Mike Lowery

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)