A rousing, artistic celebration of childhood that should appeal to readers of all ages.
A picture book offers poems that depict festivities throughout the year.
Via short poems, Howell cheerfully portrays events children experience during the seasons. Some highlight the weather. In “New Year’s,” the author writes: “Icicles of pointy picks, / Promises of snow that sticks.” Others chronicle holidays like Arbor Day, Thanksgiving, and more. Some poems provide personal interpretations and specific details. For example, in “On Mother’s Day,” the narrator recounts picking out flowers for mom. In “School Play,” the speaker references people by name, “Cardboard cut out wagons, / Boats, and rail cars, too / Are strapped around the shoulders / Of Peter, Jake, and Lou.” The poems connect seamlessly, flowing chronologically from January to December. The author uses clever language and examples kids will relate to. In “Question to Groundhog,” Howell writes: “It spatters down, hits the ground /…sleet is sloppy. / I dropped my homework paper / It made it moist and floppy.” Howell also utilizes poetic devices, including personification, as in “When Labor Day Comes”: “Autumn licks its lips… / Chews a sun ray /…Eating summer / Out of our town.” Abundant in color and texture, Messinger’s wonderful, detailed illustrations feature layered and intricately cut paper accents. The thematic, unique, and detailed portrayals include friendly faces, joyful children, and family gatherings. The outdoor elements, like colorful skylines and mountains, are particularly excellent. The people depicted are of varying ages and skin tones.
A rousing, artistic celebration of childhood that should appeal to readers of all ages.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-950169-34-4
Page Count: 38
Publisher: Spork
Review Posted Online: Nov. 25, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Quietly contemplative and thoroughly lovely.
A child finds adventure and a change of perspective on a dreary day.
Clouds cover everything in a palette of unending gray, creating a sense of ennui and gloom. A child stands alone, head down, feeling as gray as the day, and decides to ride through town on an old bike. Pops of color throughout the grayscale illustrations go unnoticed—there are yellow leaves scattered about, and the parking lot is filled with bright yellow buses, but this child, who has skin the grayish white of the page, sees only the empty playground, creaky swings, a sad merry-go-round, and lonely seesaws. But look—there’s a narrow winding path just beyond the fence, something to explore. There are things to be noticed, leaves to be crunched, and discoveries to be made. Imagination takes over, along with senses of wonderment and calm, as the child watches a large blue bird fly over the area. The ride home is quite different, joyful and filled with color previously ignored, reaffirming the change in the rider’s outlook. The descriptive, spare text filled with imagery and onomatopoeia is well aligned with well-rendered art highlighting all the colors that brighten the not-so-gray day and allowing readers to see what the protagonist struggles to understand, that “anything can happen…on a gray day.” (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Quietly contemplative and thoroughly lovely. (Picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781797210896
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: June 8, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
Not your typical kid-with-cancer book.
A rare form of cancer takes its toll in this novel based on the author’s experience.
Seventh grader Ross Maloy wants nothing more than to be an average middle schooler, hanging out with his best friends, Abby and Isaac, avoiding the school bully, and crushing on the popular girl. There’s just one thing keeping Ross from being completely ordinary: the rare form of eye cancer that’s reduced him to the kid with cancer at school. Ross’ eye is closed in a permanent wink, and he constantly wears a cowboy hat to protect his eyes. The doctors are hopeful that Ross will be cancer free after treatment, but his vision will be impaired, and the treatments cause him to lose his hair and require the application of a particularly goopy ointment. This isn’t a cancer book built upon a foundation of prayer, hope, and life lessons. The driving force here is Ross’ justifiable anger. Ross is angry at the anonymous kids making hurtful memes about him and at Isaac for abandoning him when he needs a friend most. Ross funnels his feelings into learning how to play guitar, hoping to make a splash at the school’s talent show. The author balances this anger element well against the typical middle-grade tropes. Misunderstood bully? Check. Well-meaning parents? Check. While some of these elements will feel familiar, the novel’s emotional climax remains effectively earned. Characters are paper-white in Harrell’s accompanying cartoons.
Not your typical kid-with-cancer book. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: March 31, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-1514-9
Page Count: 300
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
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