An enchantingly cozy world of window seats, trellises and rose-patterned curtains is Tom’s little grandmother’s physical world, and her home’s familiar surroundings help comfort her deteriorating brain. Soft watercolors and ink create an ordered loveliness, which complement the equally gentle rhyming couplets. Her mental condition worsens, so on the last pages, she is living with her son’s family, no longer able to live at home: “My little grandmother lives with me now. She doesn’t know why and she doesn’t know how. She can’t find her cat, and she loses her way”—yet she feels safe, because she has Tom, who looks like Roy, her beloved son when he was a boy, “so she thinks she will stay.” Tom describes his relationship with her in simple descriptive words, evocative of grandmother’s confusion and deepening loss. Though he’s as tall as a grocery-store shopping cart, she isn’t much taller and his confident presence makes all the difference. This is a truly brilliant treatment of memory loss, in which grandmother’s connection with her life is found again and again in little flashes because of her favorite things being close at hand: blue-china teacup, big orange cat and Tom. Worlds of understanding flow from Lindbergh, whose long experience with her own mother’s slow demise enlightens each page with tender reality. (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: April 1, 2007
ISBN: 0-7636-1989-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2007
Categories: CHILDREN'S FAMILY
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Lola’s daddy takes her to the library every Saturday, where she finds “excellent books,” and every night her mommy or daddy reads them to her. The next day Lola acts out the story. On Sunday she’s a fairy princess; on Monday she takes her toy animals “on fantastic trips to places like Paris”; on Wednesday she’s a tiger, etc. Each new book and day provides Lola with a variety of tales to play out, with the last one—which is about a wild monster—posing the question, “What will Lola be tomorrow?” The final page shows her in a wolf suit just like Max’s. The library books, the pretending and the incorporation of the days of the week work together as a simple and pleasing premise. Beardshaw’s acrylic illustrations depict the multicultural kids and Lola’s black family with childlike charm, while the title will have librarians, parents and booksellers smiling. Alert: The book will be an invitation for lap kids to follow Lola’s lead—not such a bad thing. (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: July 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-58089-258-2
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2010
Categories: CHILDREN'S FAMILY
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This reassuring picture book exemplifies how parents throughout the animal kingdom make homes for their offspring.
The narrative is written from the point of view of a parent talking to their child: “If you were a beaver, I would gnaw on trees with my teeth to build a cozy lodge for us to sleep in during the day.” Text appears in big, easy-to-read type, with the name of the creature in boldface. Additional facts about the animal appear in a smaller font, such as: “Beavers have transparent eyelids to help them see under water.” The gathering of land, air, and water animals includes a raven, a flying squirrel, and a sea lion. “Home” might be a nest, a den, or a burrow. One example, of a blue whale who has homes in the north and south (ocean is implied), will help children stretch the concept into feeling at home in the larger world. Illustrations of the habitats have an inviting luminosity. Mature and baby animals are realistically depicted, although facial features appear to have been somewhat softened, perhaps to appeal to young readers. The book ends with the comforting scene of a human parent and child silhouetted in the welcoming lights of the house they approach: “Wherever you may be, you will always have a home with me.”
Instills a sense of well-being in youngsters while encouraging them to explore the natural world. (Informational picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-63217-224-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little Bigfoot/Sasquatch
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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