Playful and radiant.
Claire’s day seems gloomy and dark until the child realizes that there are rainbows all around, waiting to be discovered.
It’s a dreary day in Paris, and Claire, accompanied by a parent, treks to Notre-Dame Cathedral. Once inside, Claire is unimpressed by the historic artwork. But when the sun illuminates the famed rose windows, Claire is bathed in rainbows. The child frolics—and sees the surroundings anew. Though the sun fades and the skies open up, Claire is finally aware of the beauty and color that was always there: glimmering candles, the prismatic glow wafting from a violin played by a musician outside the cathedral, the stained glass reflecting in a (perfectly jumpable) puddle. Damp and elated, Claire returns home, inspired to make music. Dashes of color juxtaposed against densely cross-hatched grayscale backgrounds help tell this wordless tale. While context clues within the rich illustrations generally result in a clear storyline, readers may need to do some extrapolating and interpreting to make Claire’s narrative arc read cohesively. Simply lined and cartoon-styled, Claire looks especially winsome against the formal, architectural backdrops, which resemble David Macauley’s in their ornateness. The judicious use of color is particularly lovely. Warm, rich, and organically flowing about the page, the rainbows evoke the joyful spirit of art, music, and shared community. Claire is light-skinned and dark-haired; the cathedral visitors vary in skin tone.
Playful and radiant. (Picture book. 4-10)Pub Date: April 21, 2026
ISBN: 9780063360006
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2026
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books.
Curious about the Big Wide World outside his Sasquatch community, Hugo makes a friend who is of it.
Sasquatch Hugo’s bedroom is inside a cave and possesses the charming feature of a small stream running through it that he can sail his little toy boat on. It’s cool, but he yearns to see the Big Wide World. When he asks his smart friend Gigi if a Sasquatch might become a sailor, she says it’s possible but would be difficult—the primary rule of their people is to not be seen by Humans. Then, in everyone’s favorite Hide and Go Sneak class, which is held outside, a Human appears; Hugo laughs at the sight, drawing Human attention in a taboo-breaking mistake. Shortly after, Hugo’s toy boat floats into the cave with a Human toy—soon, it’s facilitating a pen-pal–type relationship that’s derailed when Hugo confesses to being a Sasquatch and Human Boone, a budding cryptozoologist, doesn’t believe him. How Hugo and Boone resolve this misapprehension and become friends in a joint search for the Ogopogo concludes this series opener. Potter keeps the third-person narrative tightly focused on Hugo’s perspective, and the details she uses to flesh out the Sasquatch world are delightfully playful. Sala’s drawings depict a homey Sasquatch cavern community, Boone as a freckled, white boy, and Hugo as a hairily benevolent behemoth.
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books. (final art unseen) (Fantasy. 5-9)Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2859-4
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
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