by Roddy Doyle & illustrated by Freya Blackwood ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 2008
In Doyle’s first picture book, a girl matures in the shadow of grief. Siobhán’s mother died seven years ago, and she and her depressed father live in a rambling house full of memories but bereft of photos. Siobhán, now ten, remembers her mother’s hands and voice but not her face. Sitting under a park tree, she confides in a compassionate, mysterious woman, who advises that to see her mother’s face, she “should look in the mirror.” The story’s compression (Siobhán grows up and has a daughter), longish text and tinge of magical realism will charm some readers and possibly confuse others: The woman in the park (a figment? a vision?) whispers a message for Siobhán’s father that only her mother would know. Blackwood’s precise watercolor palette’s greens and reds visually link three generations of females through their sweetly detailed clothing and handed-down shoes and scarf. Siobhán’s father’s grey clothes and sadness remain, though the mystery woman’s message, which Siobhán remembers and utters years later, evokes a torrent of spoken, healing memories. Poignant. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-439-81501-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Levine/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2008
Share your opinion of this book
More by Roddy Doyle
BOOK REVIEW
by Roddy Doyle ; illustrated by Emily Hughes
BOOK REVIEW
by Roddy Doyle
BOOK REVIEW
by Roddy Doyle
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
Share your opinion of this book
More by Andrew Clements
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
by Andrew Clements & illustrated by Mark Elliott
by David Wiesner ; illustrated by David Wiesner ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2020
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
Share your opinion of this book
More by David Wiesner
BOOK REVIEW
by David Wiesner ; illustrated by David Wiesner
BOOK REVIEW
by Donna Jo Napoli & David Wiesner ; illustrated by David Wiesner
BOOK REVIEW
by David Wiesner ; illustrated by David Wiesner
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.