A touching exploration of long-term grief with charming illustrations.
A girl struggles with grief over losing her mother in this picture book from debut author Paruzel-Gibson.
Ella has trouble sleeping. She misses her mom, and she feels “like a balloon without air. Or like noodles gone cold on a plate.” When she sees a classmate acting happy, she asks her to sneeze on her, thinking it might be contagious, but all she gets is a cold. After she hears her grandmother say that money can’t buy happiness, Ella throws her piggy bank out the window. She later dresses up as a witch for Halloween and makes a happiness potion, and she tries to catch a star. Nothing works until she visits an apple tree that she and her mother had often visited, and the memory makes her happy. Many children’s books about grief deal with immediate loss, but Paruzel-Gibson engagingly allows Ella to take some time before reconnecting with happy memories. The digital, cartoon-style color illustrations by Catrinella (Chin Up, 2019, etc.) have a mixed-media feel, particularly in the apple tree’s beautiful texture. Some transitions feel jarring, as when the tree is introduced with an unusual phrase: “Ella had a much-loved friend.” However, the accessible vocabulary and very understandable behaviors will resonate with young readers. Ella is white, and her neighbors have varying skin tones.
A touching exploration of long-term grief with charming illustrations.Pub Date: Jan. 8, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5255-4381-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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