A thoughtfully crafted story that offers a gentle means to talk about loss with children.
When her grandmother isn’t able to sing and dance anymore, a young girl finds a way to keep their music alive in Pova’s (If I Weren’t with You, 2017, etc.) picture book.
Music and dancing make the days pass quickly for Sarah and her grandma, who spin, skip, chant, and croon in the park and the living room, among wildflowers, and at their annual Fall Festival performance. But as time passes, Sarah’s grandmother can’t move and sing like she used to. Sarah, with her mother’s encouragement, learns that although her grandmother can’t join her onstage, she’ll still be there through the music they share. With warm colors and soft backdrops, Allen’s (Penny Helps...Protect the Polar Ice Caps, 2015, etc.) illustrations subtly show the seasons’ progression, emphasizing gradual loss; although Sarah and her grandmother’s song and dance are constants, the leaves shift from green to orange. The emphasis on simplicity effectively captures the emotion in the characters’ facial expressions and imbues Pova’s story with a hint of bittersweet nostalgia. Although the text sometimes lacks the musicality that’s so integral to the tale, the seamless integration of words, illustrations, and emotions makes for a heartwarming book.
A thoughtfully crafted story that offers a gentle means to talk about loss with children.Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-946101-35-8
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Spork
Review Posted Online: Jan. 2, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
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