A sweet demonstration that a change in perspective can work wonders.
What child hasn’t felt too small on occasion? Here, Mimi is smaller than everyone in her family (including the dog) as well as everyone in her class.
Mimi’s tale starts as one of woe, a litany of drawbacks to being petite: not being noticed in crowds, not being able to touch the floor while seated on the school bus, not being able to see desserts at the bakery, and so on. But there are two sides to every coin, and Mimi’s friends help her notice the benefits: winning at hide-and-seek, being in the front row for pictures, and treating the bathtub like a swimming pool. At 48 pages, this is a bit longer than is typical for picture books for young children, but there is limited text on each page, and the illustrations with plenty of white space help make the story accessible. Leng’s pen, ink, and watercolor drawings—even the trim size of the whole package—are appropriately small in scale and focus; the pictures are reminiscent of James Stevenson’s art. The satisfying ending shows that it doesn’t make any difference if Mimi is sad or glad about being small: She won’t be the smallest in the family any longer, as a new baby brother has just arrived. Mimi—who wears her brown hair short along with jeans, T-shirt, and a sweatshirt (all too big for her, of course)—and her family present white; her friends and fellow students are diverse.
A sweet demonstration that a change in perspective can work wonders. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5253-0115-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
A retro-futuristic romp, literally and figuratively screwy.
Robo-parents Diode and Lugnut present daughter Cathode with a new little brother—who requires, unfortunately, some assembly.
Arriving in pieces from some mechanistic version of Ikea, little Flange turns out to be a cute but complicated tyke who immediately falls apart…and then rockets uncontrollably about the room after an overconfident uncle tinkers with his basic design. As a squad of helpline techies and bevies of neighbors bearing sludge cake and like treats roll in, the cluttered and increasingly crowded scene deteriorates into madcap chaos—until at last Cath, with help from Roomba-like robodog Sprocket, stages an intervention by whisking the hapless new arrival off to a backyard workshop for a proper assembly and software update. “You’re such a good big sister!” warbles her frazzled mom. Wiesner’s robots display his characteristic clean lines and even hues but endearingly look like vaguely anthropomorphic piles of random jet-engine parts and old vacuum cleaners loosely connected by joints of armored cable. They roll hither and thither through neatly squared-off panels and pages in infectiously comical dismay. Even the end’s domestic tranquility lasts only until Cathode spots the little box buried in the bigger one’s packing material: “TWINS!” (This book was reviewed digitally with 9-by-22-inch double-page spreads viewed at 52% of actual size.)
A retro-futuristic romp, literally and figuratively screwy. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-544-98731-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: June 2, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2020
Maybe these kids should try babysitting Santa.
The creators of the bestselling How to Babysit a Grandpa (2012) and How to Babysit a Grandma (2014) continue their series with this story about a brother and sister who want to capture Santa on his annual visit to their home.
The children discuss improbable ideas for spotting or catching Santa, including a complicated sequence with notes to lure Santa up to their bedroom. They wait up for Santa, and a nighttime view of Santa and the reindeer on the neighborhood’s roofs makes his arrival seem imminent. Then, in a disappointing conclusion, the children fall asleep with no sign of Santa’s arrival. In the morning it’s clear Santa has been there, as the presents are under the tree and the cookies and carrots have been eaten. There is a trail of red glitter leading to the chimney from the letter the kids sent to Santa, but that’s the only surprise this story has to offer. Readers might be expecting some sort of exciting trap for Santa or some clever way the children get to meet him or ride in his sleigh. No…just a sprinkle of red glitter. Digitally produced illustration are bright and cheery, with cute kids and amusing details, but sharp-eyed readers will notice the decorated Christmas tree in the living room is inexplicably placed in four different locations on different pages.
Maybe these kids should try babysitting Santa. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 20, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-553-49839-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2015
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