by Reeve Lindbergh & illustrated by Abby Carter ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 2003
Famed author Lindbergh, in a much lighter poetic vein than On Morning Wings (2002), limns a bouncy and exuberant rhyme wherein a girl extols her hippie grandma: “She hasn’t cut her hair at all / Since nineteen sixty-nine.” Not only that, but she drives a purple bus, has a mustachioed, guitar-playing boyfriend named Jim, and a cat named Woodstock. The girl helps her grandmother in the garden, and helps her sell goods at the Farmers Market as well as to picket City Hall when necessary. “My mother is a lawyer. / My dad works on TV,” says the girl, and grandma tells her she will find her own perfect job, perhaps “find the cure for cancer / And save the human race.” But she knows that she wants to be a Hippie Grandmother herself, some day, “JUST LIKE YOU!” The pictures are a wonder, in electric kool-aid acid colors, full of sunshine and love beads and tie-dye. Carter (The Invisible Enemy, not reviewed, etc.) has an energetic line; her watercolor and gouache figures fairly dance off the page. Grandma’s home, with its colorful pottery, array of plants, and occasional ’60s artifact (don’t miss the lava lamp), is utterly engaging. For children who may have such a grandma, or know such a grandma, and for more than a few adults who may recognize themselves in the words and pictures: a sheer delight. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-7636-0671-5
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2003
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by Phil Rosenthal & Lily Rosenthal ; illustrated by Luke Flowers ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 6, 2024
Amusing but misleading on the nutritional and behavioral fronts.
With one taste of despised mustard, a child pivots from rejecting new foods to seeking them.
Dad takes Lil to a food truck festival. Lil, who narrates the story, is nervous; this child’s list of acceptable foods is short (pizza, rice, grilled cheese, french fries, and vanilla ice cream). Dad loves varied tastes and repeatedly reminds Lil of his rule: “Just try it!” With a “YECCCH!” or an “EWWWWWW!” Lil refuses a bagel loaded with toppings, linguini with clams, Peking duck, pizza with spinach and garlic, and a pretzel covered with Lil’s most hated of foods: mustard. Frustrated, Lil accidentally knocks the pretzel onto Dad’s shirt. Lil apologizes, takes a lick of mustard…and instantly learns to appreciate every rejected offering. Lil then uses the title mantra to pressure Dad onto a nausea-inducing roller-coaster ride. Bright, cartoon-style illustrations emphasize the pair's upbeat mood. Food neophobia, or an aversion to eating anything novel, has complex psychosocial roots. But in this blithe little fable, the child’s resistance is completely overcome with a single accidental exposure, and the formerly picky eater immediately becomes a novelty seeker. The turnaround here is implausible; if this book creates any expectations of a sudden dramatic change in a child’s behavior, that would be a disservice. Both Dad and Lil are light-skinned.
Amusing but misleading on the nutritional and behavioral fronts. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781665942638
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2023
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by Andrew Clements & illustrated by R.W. Alley ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 23, 2005
Give this child’s-eye view of a day at the beach with an attentive father high marks for coziness: “When your ball blows across the sand and into the ocean and starts to drift away, your daddy could say, Didn’t I tell you not to play too close to the waves? But he doesn’t. He wades out into the cold water. And he brings your ball back to the beach and plays roll and catch with you.” Alley depicts a moppet and her relaxed-looking dad (to all appearances a single parent) in informally drawn beach and domestic settings: playing together, snuggling up on the sofa and finally hugging each other goodnight. The third-person voice is a bit distancing, but it makes the togetherness less treacly, and Dad’s mix of love and competence is less insulting, to parents and children both, than Douglas Wood’s What Dads Can’t Do (2000), illus by Doug Cushman. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: May 23, 2005
ISBN: 0-618-00361-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2005
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