A mindful appreciation of often unnoticed delights enhanced by subtle and stunning illustrations.
A white grandfather and a brown-skinned, biracial child stroll through their neighborhood keeping their “eyes open for tiny, perfect things.”
Through his own appreciation, the grandfather gently shares the wisdom of being alert to everyday beauty. A leaf brought down by the wind, a glistening spiderweb, even a discarded bottle cap are worthy of wonder. Clark narrates the grandfather’s observations, utilizing simple text and a rhyme that at times feels a bit clunky. However, it is Kloepper’s exceptionally thoughtful illustrations that catapult this picture book into the realm of the truly special. The careful use of perspective is immediately clear. In one spread, yellow leaves drift down in the foreground of the page; large yards, modest homes, and diverse neighbors stretch out in the background—and in the front corner, the protagonists each stoop down in a manner congruent with their individual abilities, simply noticing a leaf. When dusk falls, the pair returns to a cozy and loving home, as evidenced by small details such as the photos on the walls and the comfortable manner in which dark-skinned dad and white mom cuddle on the couch. The final pages revisit the day’s discoveries and open to a four-page spread of the neighborhood, inviting readers to explore what tiny, perfect things they can find.
A mindful appreciation of often unnoticed delights enhanced by subtle and stunning illustrations. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: June 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-946873-06-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2018
A comical, fresh look at crayons and color
Duncan wants to draw, but instead of crayons, he finds a stack of letters listing the crayons’ demands in this humorous tale.
Red is overworked, laboring even on holidays. Gray is exhausted from coloring expansive spaces (elephants, rhinos and whales). Black wants to be considered a color-in color, and Peach? He’s naked without his wrapper! This anthropomorphized lot amicably requests workplace changes in hand-lettered writing, explaining their work stoppage to a surprised Duncan. Some are tired, others underutilized, while a few want official titles. With a little creativity and a lot of color, Duncan saves the day. Jeffers delivers energetic and playful illustrations, done in pencil, paint and crayon. The drawings are loose and lively, and with few lines, he makes his characters effectively emote. Clever spreads, such as Duncan’s “white cat in the snow” perfectly capture the crayons’ conundrum, and photographic representations of both the letters and coloring pages offer another layer of texture, lending to the tale’s overall believability.
A comical, fresh look at crayons and color . (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: June 27, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-399-25537-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it.
A succession of animal dads do their best to teach their young to say “Dada” in this picture-book vehicle for Fallon.
A grumpy bull says, “DADA!”; his calf moos back. A sad-looking ram insists, “DADA!”; his lamb baas back. A duck, a bee, a dog, a rabbit, a cat, a mouse, a donkey, a pig, a frog, a rooster, and a horse all fail similarly, spread by spread. A final two-spread sequence finds all of the animals arrayed across the pages, dads on the verso and children on the recto. All the text prior to this point has been either iterations of “Dada” or animal sounds in dialogue bubbles; here, narrative text states, “Now everybody get in line, let’s say it together one more time….” Upon the turn of the page, the animal dads gaze round-eyed as their young across the gutter all cry, “DADA!” (except the duckling, who says, “quack”). Ordóñez's illustrations have a bland, digital look, compositions hardly varying with the characters, although the pastel-colored backgrounds change. The punch line fails from a design standpoint, as the sudden, single-bubble chorus of “DADA” appears to be emanating from background features rather than the baby animals’ mouths (only some of which, on close inspection, appear to be open). It also fails to be funny.
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 9, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-250-00934-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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