Tarpley and Lewis return to the theme of their first collaboration: I Love My Hair (1997). In this case, it is the occasion of a young man’s first official haircut. Tarpley is very sharp in catching the moods and rituals of the barbershop. Like the best of such places, this shop has a group of regulars, warm in each other’s company, cajoling, exuding camaraderie. Miles, the first-timer, an African-American boy, is in the company of his father, who is one of the regulars. Tarpley works the rite-of-passage angle, but not overly; she understands that the atmospherics are what count: “Jazz music, loud voices, and laughter blend with the buzzzzzzz of clippers and the soft sweesh-sweesh whisper of scissors.” All the gents have advised Miles to “be brave,” which of course gives him a mild case of the shim-shams when the clippers touch the back of his neck for the first time. But his dad is there to offer some soothing advice and the cut proceeds. Miles exits to a round of high-fives and those cherished words from the barber: “See you next time.” There aren’t many of these safe harbors left out there in the everyday world, and Tarpley celebrates well their survival. And their steadiness and warmth are equally applauded in Lewis’s sure-handed watercolors—Miles is totally adorable—inviting enough to make readers want to go out and get a trim. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-316-52284-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Megan Tingley/Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Menacing and most likely to appeal to established fans of its co-creators.
Existing artwork from an artistic giant inspires a fairy-tale reimagination by a master of the horror genre.
In King’s interpretation of a classic Brothers Grimm story, which accompanies set and costume designs that the late Sendak created for a 1997 production of Engelbert Humperdinck’s opera, siblings Hansel and Gretel survive abandonment in the woods and an evil witch’s plot to gobble them up before finding their “happily ever after” alongside their father. Prose with the reassuring cadence of an old-timey tale, paired with Sendak’s instantly recognizable artwork, will lull readers before capitalizing on these creators’ knack for injecting darkness into seemingly safe spaces. Gaping faces loom in crevices of rocks and trees, and a gloomy palette of muted greens and ocher amplify the story’s foreboding tone, while King never sugarcoats the peach-skinned children’s peril. Branches with “clutching fingers” hide “the awful enchanted house” of a “child-stealing witch,” all portrayed in an eclectic mix of spot and full-bleed images. Featuring insults that might strike some as harsh (“idiot,” “fool”), the lengthy, dense text may try young readers’ patience, and the often overwhelmingly ominous mood feels more pitched to adults—particularly those familiar with King and Sendak—but an introduction acknowledges grandparents as a likely audience, and nostalgia may prompt leniency over an occasional disconnect between words and art.
Menacing and most likely to appeal to established fans of its co-creators. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9780062644695
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2025
Give this child’s-eye view of a day at the beach with an attentive father high marks for coziness: “When your ball blows across the sand and into the ocean and starts to drift away, your daddy could say, Didn’t I tell you not to play too close to the waves? But he doesn’t. He wades out into the cold water. And he brings your ball back to the beach and plays roll and catch with you.” Alley depicts a moppet and her relaxed-looking dad (to all appearances a single parent) in informally drawn beach and domestic settings: playing together, snuggling up on the sofa and finally hugging each other goodnight. The third-person voice is a bit distancing, but it makes the togetherness less treacly, and Dad’s mix of love and competence is less insulting, to parents and children both, than Douglas Wood’s What Dads Can’t Do (2000), illus by Doug Cushman. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: May 23, 2005
ISBN: 0-618-00361-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2005
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