For Tillman, predictability and preciosity have been profitable, and this is likely to be another best-seller to add to her...
Fans of Tillman’s sentimental rhyming couplets, pretty pictures and relentlessly positive worldview will welcome this vision of a happy heaven populated by pampered pets, ethereal angels and friendly animals of all sorts.
This heaven is a decidedly pastoral place, from the fog-shrouded lake on one of the opening double-page spreads to a field of sunflowers and a grassy meadow. A sandy beach, deep blue lake and wildly colored savannah are among the other settings, all of which serve to add variety and visual interest. Angels, mostly children and overwhelmingly white, are sprinkled about, playing with dogs, petting kittens and patting horses as well as running, dancing and paddling a bright blue canoe. The digitally created artwork verges on photorealism in some instances, while other vignettes have a gauzy look. The text is straightforward, with a strong rhythm from the opening couplet to the final reassurance: “But when you meet your friends again, / they’ll see you as they saw you then. / And you’ll find they always knew / how much they were loved… / and how much they loved you.” Accompanied by the depiction of a joyous reunion between a boy and his dog, the final two pages may well be the most affecting part of the whole.
For Tillman, predictability and preciosity have been profitable, and this is likely to be another best-seller to add to her list. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-312-55369-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A valuable asset to the library of a child who experiences anxiety and a great book to get children talking about their...
Ruby is an adventurous and happy child until the day she discovers a Worry.
Ruby barely sees the Worry—depicted as a blob of yellow with a frowny unibrow—at first, but as it hovers, the more she notices it and the larger it grows. The longer Ruby is affected by this Worry, the fewer colors appear on the page. Though she tries not to pay attention to the Worry, which no one else can see, ignoring it prevents her from enjoying the things that she once loved. Her constant anxiety about the Worry causes the bright yellow blob to crowd Ruby’s everyday life, which by this point is nearly all washes of gray and white. But at the playground, Ruby sees a boy sitting on a bench with a growing sky-blue Worry of his own. When she invites the boy to talk, his Worry begins to shrink—and when Ruby talks about her own Worry, it also grows smaller. By the book’s conclusion, Ruby learns to control her Worry by talking about what worries her, a priceless lesson for any child—or adult—conveyed in a beautifully child-friendly manner. Ruby presents black, with hair in cornrows and two big afro-puff pigtails, while the boy has pale skin and spiky black hair.
A valuable asset to the library of a child who experiences anxiety and a great book to get children talking about their feelings (. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5476-0237-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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