A joyful expression of wishes made true.
A frog can make itself into a unicorn—with a can of Magical Unicorn Sprinkles.
Although stubborn Goat tells Frog that it cannot be a unicorn, Frog proves the skeptical animal wrong. Frog first tries to convince Goat by donning a party hat for a horn and a tail made of colored streamers and by carrying the special sprinkles. Frog boasts of living “on a fluffy cloud.” (The cloud is made of cotton balls.) Frog can fly. (The illustration shows Frog perched on a swing.) Frog’s “best friend is a fairy.” (In reality, that friend is a cow.) In a spread that some children will find especially funny, Frog declares, “I eat flowers and toot rainbows!” and farts a smelly arc of colors in Goat’s face. Angry Goat debunks the assertions, and sad Frog almost gives up the dream, taking off the horn and throwing away the can of Sprinkles. Goat unexpectedly apologizes: “Frog? I’m sorry. You made a really good unicorn costume.” Even as Goat is apologizing, the container of sprinkles “boings” off the backs of many sheep and finally lands on Frog, and “POOF!” Frog is now an honest-to-goodness purple unicorn! The brightly colored, cartoonlike illustrations with lots of funny farm animals work well with the zany content.
A joyful expression of wishes made true. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: May 2, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5107-1469-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 19, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2017
Bittersweet—would that climate change were so easily solved.
For the past two winters snow hasn’t come to Freya’s town. Will an old, forgotten song help to bring it back?
In language that is almost poetic, Lappano tells the story of Freya, who loved the way snow looked and felt, and how the air changed when snow was coming. It’s been two winters now since it last came, and Freya is afraid her memories of snow are fading. At the market with her father, “a soft, twinkling melody danced in Freya’s ears.” Following the sound, Freya finds a woman holding a snow-globe music box. She gifts Freya the globe and tells her it plays an old and special song. For generations, says the woman, the song was sung by the townspeople, and some believed it was “the magic of the song that called the snow home.” Back home, her mother remembers the words, but though Freya sings them over many days, the snow does not come. Eventually, she teaches the words to her friends, who take the song home, and soon “the song once again filled their homes and hearts.” And finally (and predictably), the snow comes. Eggenschwiler’s artwork matches the gentle and magical telling of the story with textural illustrations in a limited palette of soft colors. Freya, her family, and the woman present White; the townspeople are racially diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Bittersweet—would that climate change were so easily solved. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-77306-268-6
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, icy treat that will warm your heart.
A charming bedtime story sure to prompt sweet dreams.
One “very, very hot night in the middle of summer,” the moon begins to melt. Trying in vain to get to sleep, the residents of a cramped apartment building turn on their air conditioners and fans, and leave their fridges open, causing a power outage! Granny, in Apt. 503, is the only resident to have noticed the moon dripping away to nothing, and she races outside to catch the drops to mix up a frozen treat: the titular moon pops, which are icy and sweet, melt away the heat. All is finally quiet, until two rabbits come knocking at the door—they have come from the moon, which has melted away. But no worries, Granny has just the solution. 2020 Astrid Lindgren Award winner Baek draws gently on Korean folklore while keeping her feet firmly planted in the modern day, with some delicious visual texture. Dreamy illustrations are crafted from dioramas and cut-paper charcoal drawings, with a softly glowing candle-flame–colored moon and friends and neighbors who are a variety of creatures but all wearing summery human pajamas. Whimsically varied perspectives and the unusual depth of field offered by Baek’s technique make for an entrancing display. Granny is a bespectacled wolf.
A sweet, icy treat that will warm your heart. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 15, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-77147-429-0
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Owlkids Books
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
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