Lili’s mother is going away on a trip and Lili cannot help but miss her and yearn for her return. Walking Mama to the ferry landing, Lili asks her how she will find her. “You’ll see my yellow hat,” Mama assures her. Seeing her off, Lili watches as Mama’s hat fades into the distance and then she clutches her Grandma’s hand for the walk home. Over the next two days, Lili sees Mama’s hat nearly everywhere she goes. Unfortunately, when she goes in for a closer view, she finds that the spots of yellow that she thought were her mother’s hat are instead a circus balloon, a yellow sundress, a bright beach umbrella, and a sunflower. Despairing that Mama will ever return, Lili walks with her grandmother to meet the ferry. Yellow is everywhere; yellow hats, yellow pants, yellow sunglasses, and even a yellow duck—but no yellow hat. Finally, Lili spots a yellow hat in the crowd disembarking from the ferry and it’s Mama. With a gift of a yellow hat for her very own, Mama clasps Lili tight against her, promising that she will always return. Soft washes of watercolors in muted tones set the perfect backdrop for the brightly colored story of the bond between a mother and daughter. A sunny tale. (Picture book. 2-5)
Pub Date: May 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-439-38491-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2003
A heartwarming story about facing fears and acceptance.
A boy with wings learns to be himself and inspires others like him to soar, too.
Norman, a “perfectly normal” boy, never dreamed he might grow wings. Afraid of what his parents might say, he hides his new wings under a big, stuffy coat. Although the coat hides his wings from the world, Norman no longer finds joy in bathtime, playing at the park, swimming, or birthday parties. With the gentle encouragement of his parents, who see his sadness, Norman finds the courage to come out of hiding and soar. Percival (The Magic Looking Glass, 2017, etc.) depicts Norman with light skin and dark hair. Black-and-white illustrations show his father with dark skin and hair and his mother as white. The contrast of black-and-white illustrations with splashes of bright color complements the story’s theme. While Norman tries to be “normal,” the world and people around him look black and gray, but his coat stands out in yellow. Birds pop from the page in pink, green, and blue, emphasizing the joy and beauty of flying free. The final spread, full of bright color and multiracial children in flight, sets the mood for Norman’s realization on the last page that there is “no such thing as perfectly normal,” but he can be “perfectly Norman.”
A heartwarming story about facing fears and acceptance. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: May 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-68119-785-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
An A+ for Little E and his creator.
A petite excavator named Little E finds his place among a crew of full-sized, heavy-construction equipment working together to build a park.
The anthropomorphic Little E, with bright, friendly eyes and a cheery smile, invites readers into the story on the large-format cover. He is followed by a brown-and-white–spotted dog, which appears throughout the story as a friend to Little E. The construction vehicles arrive at an abandoned lot and begin working together to transform the property into a park. The rollicking, rhyming text names each type of rig and its function, including lots of sound effects and action verbs set in display type integrated into the illustrations: “Pusha-pusha smusha-smusha SMASH SMASH SMASH!” Little E tries to help with each step, but he is either too small or not strong enough for the task at hand. The last step of the park-construction project is the planting of a tree on an island reached by a bridge, but all the big rigs are too large to safely cross the wooden bridge. In a pitch-perfect conclusion, Little E is just the right size for the job. Dewdney, the late author/illustrator of the Llama Llama series, has constructed a solid winner for one of her final books, with an appealing main character, vibrant illustrations with varying perspectives, and an action-packed, rhyming text with sound effects just begging to be read aloud with dramatic effect.
An A+ for Little E and his creator. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: June 6, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-101-99920-2
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2017
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