Spier, an institution for 25 years (Caldecott for Noah's Ark, 1978), can probably do no wrong. Dreams is to all intents and purposes a wordless picture book; the entire text, appearing on the penultimate page, reads ". . .and the next time you gaze at the sky: dream dreams!" Two children spend the afternoon gazing from a flowery meadow at a sky graced with a scattering of birds and insects, a wondrous flight of balloons, and the sort of cumulus clouds that speak to the imagination. Alternate illustrations show the clouds as sculpted by the wind and the pictures seen therein by the children: real and fantastic animals (the sun-gilded seal balances the sun on his nose); knights attacking a dragon with spears of jets and their contrails; an impressionistic picnic; a school of fish mouthing the gay hot-air balloons; thunderous monsters. This imaginative romp is represented in Spier's usual pen and watercolor style, in this case mostly watercolor, and though it is neither as subtle nor as detailed as his best books, it is a great pleasure both as puzzles and as pictures. Librarians will have to cope with Doubleday's practice of putting important, unduplicated illustrations on the endpapers.
Pub Date: Aug. 5, 1986
ISBN: 038519336X
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1986
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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