A beautiful meditation on grief—both the aching sadness and the unexpected moments of joy.
Eddie is gone. Where can he be?
A lanky, gray-haired, bearded man wanders into the kitchen searching for his son. Though he knows that “Eddie’s not coming back,” Meg, the man’s rather philosophical black-and-white cat, tells him, “If you look for him, you’ll find him. Not the way he was, but he’ll be there.” And off the protagonist goes, visiting areas and people who evoke unexpectedly happy memories of Eddie as a child and teenager: the game that young Eddie and Dad played on the bus when the boy got antsy, Eddie leaping through the air during a game of field hockey, the whole family taking trips to the beach. After a day of reminiscing, the man comes home, realizing that though Eddie is no longer here, he lives on in the memories of those left behind. Though Rosen never explicitly states where Eddie has gone, it will be apparent to adults that he has died; some children may need additional context. A companion title to the author’s acclaimed Michael Rosen’s Sad Book, illustrated by Quentin Blake (2005), this is a lovely look at the long tail of the always evolving, complex process of grief, conveyed through gentle first-person text and smudgy mixed-media illustrations that evoke a tenderly nostalgic tone. While the previous title focused on the raw emotions of fresh loss, this one explores the contentment that emerges through the passage of time. Father and son are light-skinned.
A beautiful meditation on grief—both the aching sadness and the unexpected moments of joy. (author’s note) (Picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: July 21, 2026
ISBN: 9781536250152
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: April 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2026
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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