This parent-child love poem reaches out and cuddles its dual audience close. The simple verse celebrates the small, everyday ways small children endear themselves to their parents: “When the sky glows / peachy-rose at dawn . . . / I love the way / you stretch and yawn,” and so on through one idyllic day, visiting in turn an Asian-American mother and baby at daybreak, an African-American father and toddler in the middle of the day and a European-American mother and preschooler at bedtime. Cruise’s text is unapologetically doting, the truth behind every statement manifest in each rhyme and carrying the whole beyond cliché. Chodos-Irvine’s now-trademark prints are the wholly perfect accompaniment, their soft pastels and rounded lines underscoring the genuine warmth of the sentiment. Her understanding of the exuberant movements of baby- and toddler-hood is unparalleled, each cock of the head and bend of the arm just right. What child doesn’t need the unqualified love of the parent, and what parent doesn’t need to be reminded of this? As a statement of childhood’s most unalienable right, it doesn’t come any clearer. (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: April 1, 2007
ISBN: 0-15-216604-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2007
Newbery Medalist Rylant and Goode collaborate again for the first time since their Caldecott Honor Book, When I Was Young in the Mountains (1982). This offering also explores the experiences of a little girl who leads an old-fashioned life in a cozy home with her grandparents (as did Rylant for several years of her childhood). In first-person narrative, the unnamed little girl and her grandparents prepare for a traditional but simple Christmas: putting up lights, decorating the tree, attending church, opening a few presents early Christmas morning, and welcoming guests for Christmas dinner. Goode’s loose watercolor-and-ink illustrations help create a cheery, comfortable home in which the little girl is tenderly loved and cared for. The child knows that Christmas will unfold each year in just the same ways with the predictability of family tradition that all children love. The setting and time period are not specified: somewhere in a place with hills and lots of snow and tolerance for an integrated community, as the family attends an integrated church and includes African-American friends in their Christmas dinner plans. The time period could be anywhere from the 1930s to the ’50s, but it’s definitely a much calmer and simpler time when a quiet, meaningful Christmas was within everyone’s reach. A serene and soothing look at the holiday, just right to share with a child while sipping cocoa and nibbling Christmas cookies. (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-439-07334-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2002
Gentieu creates an engaging set of photographs for very young eyes. Every spread pairs a large full-color close-up of an infant and a phrase that has clearly recognizable echoes for adults: “Where are baby’s toes?” and “How big is baby?” On the facing page, superimposed against soft pastel backgrounds, are several smaller photographs of infants engaged in a relevant activity, e.g., “Clap hands baby!” appears with babies engaged in enthusiastic attempts at patty-cake. Clad in colorful diapers, these cherubs smile, frown, laugh, and frolic through the book, candidly expressing a wide range of emotions. The direct correlation between text and photos provide children with visual clues that reinforce their comprehension of basic words and phrases. (Picture book. 1-3)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-517-80028-4
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999
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