Good intentions and appealing artwork can’t overcome the vague descriptions and generic flavor of this narrative.
This Canadian import, adapted from an animated film, is an earnest effort to paint a positive picture of an urban neighborhood. Unfortunately, it fails to bring the narrator and her surroundings to life.
Beginning with a reference to Jane Jacobs, a mid-20th-century journalist, author and activist who focused on urban planning, the text is explicitly purposive. Lucia, the narrator, uses simple declarative sentences to describe her community and review a typical day’s activities. In the morning, “[m]y neighborhood is pretty busy”; at noon, the letter carrier comes by, and school kids like Lucia come home for lunch (“Grandmother made my favorite soup!”). There’s the excitement of a local parade in the afternoon, and at the end of the day “things quiet down.” In meticulous, ebullient detail, Lucia faithfully describes everyday events and alludes to various friends and neighbors. The neighborhood is somewhat multicultural; apparently many residents (and possibly Lucia herself) are of Portuguese descent. The flat, digitally created illustrations have an appealing folk-art feel and offer more interesting detail than the bland text. Lucia’s life and location may be much more compelling in Montrose Avenue, the animated short in which she made her first appearance. Most readers, however, will find little reason to linger in her neighborhood.
Good intentions and appealing artwork can’t overcome the vague descriptions and generic flavor of this narrative. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-55453-420-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2013
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
Pedestrian.
Mr. Brown can’t help with farm chores because his shoes are missing—a common occurrence in his household and likely in many readers’ as well.
Children will be delighted that the titular Mr. Brown is in fact a child. After Mr. Brown looks in his closet and sorts through his other family members’ shoes with no luck, his father and his siblings help him search the farm. Eventually—after colorful pages that enable readers to spot footwear hiding—the family gives up on their hunt, and Mr. Brown asks to be carried around for the chores. He rides on his father’s shoulders as Papa gets his work done, as seen on a double-page spread of vignettes. The resolution is more of a lesson for the adult readers than for children, a saccharine moment where father and son express their joy that the missing shoes gave them the opportunity for togetherness—with advice for other parents to appreciate those fleeting moments themselves. Though the art is bright and cheerful, taking advantage of the setting, it occasionally is misaligned with the text (for example, the text states that Mr. Brown is wearing his favorite green shirt while the illustration is of a shirt with wide stripes of white and teal blue, which could confuse readers at the point where they’re trying to figure out which family member is Mr. Brown). The family is light-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Pedestrian. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 14, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-5460-0389-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: WorthyKids/Ideals
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022
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