A rose is a rose, and loving friendship is loving friendship, as this sweet celebration makes clear.
When Alice Babette wakes up on her birthday, she’s certain “it will be a day filled with surprises.”
Unfortunately, the first is that her best friend, Gertrude, with whom she lives, doesn’t wish her a happy birthday. It improves from there, as Alice wanders through Paris, riding a merry-go-round and watching a puppet show in the Luxembourg Gardens. Meanwhile, readers see that Gertrude is not as hardhearted as she seemed: she spends the day marketing for and preparing a grand birthday dinner for her friend and composing a birthday poem. Alas, Alice is the cook in this family, and all of Gertrude’s good intentions can’t turn her into one, particularly when the muse beckons. Kulling’s affectionate look at one fictional day in Alice B. Toklas and Gertrude Stein’s life together is as rambling as her subjects’ separate peregrinations. Stein’s experimental writing is alluded to (only Alice “seem[s] to understand or appreciate her friend’s work”); the story’s focus is on the loving, complementary relationship between the two women—indeed, the pair feels like many a children’s-literature duo: Mouse and Mole, Frog and Toad, and George and Martha come to mind. Leng’s delicate watercolors depict two middle-aged white women in frumpy skirts, Gertrude stockier than Alice and with close-cropped hair. Her images of Paris, the women’s old-fashioned kitchen, and their poodle, Basket, charm.
A rose is a rose, and loving friendship is loving friendship, as this sweet celebration makes clear. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-55498-820-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2016
A charming illustration of childhood memories during the holiday season.
A colorful wintry tale ushers in Chinese New Year over two weeks.
In this picture book, the narrator recounts with nostalgia an observance of the traditional New Year in rural northern China. The snow-covered village bustles with activity as folks venture out to greet relatives and friends. “On the third day, uncles started giving LANTERNS” refers to an old custom in provincial Shaanxi—especially among maternal uncles. Palpable and immediate are Zhao Di’s eager anticipation and the care with which she “walk[s] through the snow with her lantern in case she slipped or the candle blew out in the wind.” Simple yet vivid close-ups depict Zhao Di and her friends, bundled head to toe and comparing lantern designs—accordion, watermelon, etc.—while braving the cold and a bunch of rowdy boys. All too soon, the 15th day arrives, signaling the end of the New Year celebrations. In a pivotal spread that shows Zhao Di sitting with her dog and chickens, readers are granted an interior view of the architecture and layout of a rustic farmhouse. In addition, the villagers’ various clothing styles, headdresses, and skin tones suggest the region’s diverse ethnicities and socio-economic landscapes. As the story concludes with the obligatory smashing and burning of the lanterns, Zhao Di comforts herself with the hopeful thought of lighting new lanterns next year.
A charming illustration of childhood memories during the holiday season. (author's note) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Dec. 7, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5420-2984-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Amazon Crossing Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2021
A touching, beautifully illustrated story of greatest interest to those in the New York City area.
A pair of cardinals is separated and then reunited when their tree home is moved to New York City to serve as the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.
The male cardinal, Red, and his female partner, Lulu, enjoy their home in a huge evergreen tree located in the front yard of a small house in a pleasant neighborhood. When the tree is cut down and hauled away on a truck, Lulu is still inside the tree. Red follows the truck into the city but loses sight of it and gets lost. The birds are reunited when Red finds the tree transformed with colored lights and serving as the Christmas tree in a complex of city buildings. When the tree is removed after Christmas, the birds find a new home in a nearby park. Each following Christmas, the pair visit the new tree erected in the same location. Attractive illustrations effectively handle some difficult challenges of dimension and perspective and create a glowing, magical atmosphere for the snowy Christmas trees. The original owners of the tree are a multiracial family with two children; the father is African-American and the mother is white. The family is in the background in the early pages, reappearing again skating on the rink at Rockefeller Center with their tree in the background.
A touching, beautifully illustrated story of greatest interest to those in the New York City area. (author’s note) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7636-7733-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2017
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