PAUL MEETS BERNADETTE

Name: PAUL MEETS BERNADETTE
Author: Rosy Lamb
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6130-4

by Rosy Lamb ; illustrated by Rosy Lamb ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 10, 2013

How does life look from inside a goldfish bowl? Perhaps more intriguing for creative Bernadette than for circling Paul in...

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A banana is a boat and a spoon’s a fish in this sequence of charming, painterly oil illustrations that study the dodgy perspectives of two goldfish in a bowl.

Paul has not seen the world. He swims around his fishbowl, maxing out his circle options: big, little, left to right, top to bottom. One day, a more cosmopolitan, clearly more imaginative goldfish named Bernadette is dropped into his bowl. “What are you doing?” she asks. As she encourages Paul to stop circling and observe the colorful realm beyond the glass, readers peer out too, squinting to visualize her delightful distortions. A big blue teapot pouring tea into teacups is a “not too dangerous” elephant, Bernadette proclaims: “But you must not disturb her while she is feeding her babies.” A bottle of orange juice (“From the Isle of Concentrate”) and a milk carton comprise the city of “Milkwaukee.” At first, this book seems to be about how even the most constrained worlds expand with the power of imagination. But since Paul never really gets the hang of it, the story, in the end, mostly just underscores Bernadette’s irresistible charms: “Now Paul goes around Bernadette.” Fair enough—sometimes that’s how it goes.

How does life look from inside a goldfish bowl? Perhaps more intriguing for creative Bernadette than for circling Paul in this lovely, debatably romantic ode in oils. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: Dec. 10, 2013

ISBN: 978-0-7636-6130-4

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Candlewick

Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2013

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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CARPENTER'S HELPER

by Sybil Rosen ; illustrated by Camille Garoche ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.

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A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.

Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: March 16, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random

Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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THE LEAF THIEF

by Alice Hemming ; illustrated by Nicola Slater ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 2021

A hilarious autumnal comedy of errors.

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A confused squirrel overreacts to the falling autumn leaves.

Relaxing on a tree branch, Squirrel admires the red, gold, and orange leaves. Suddenly Squirrel screams, “One of my leaves is…MISSING!” Searching for the leaf, Squirrel tells Bird, “Someone stole my leaf!” Spying Mouse sailing in a leaf boat, Squirrel asks if Mouse stole the leaf. Mouse calmly replies in the negative. Bird reminds Squirrel it’s “perfectly normal to lose a leaf or two at this time of year.” Next morning Squirrel panics again, shrieking, “MORE LEAVES HAVE BEEN STOLEN!” Noticing Woodpecker arranging colorful leaves, Squirrel queries, “Are those my leaves?” Woodpecker tells Squirrel, “No.” Again, Bird assures Squirrel that no one’s taking the leaves and that the same thing happened last year, then encourages Squirrel to relax. Too wired to relax despite some yoga and a bath, the next day Squirrel cries “DISASTER” at the sight of bare branches. Frantic now, Squirrel becomes suspicious upon discovering Bird decorating with multicolored leaves. Is Bird the culprit? In response, Bird shows Squirrel the real Leaf Thief: the wind. Squirrel’s wildly dramatic, misguided, and hyperpossessive reaction to a routine seasonal event becomes a rib-tickling farce through clever use of varying type sizes and weights emphasizing his absurd verbal pronouncements as well as exaggerated, comic facial expressions and body language. Bold colors, arresting perspectives, and intense close-ups enhance Squirrel’s histrionics. Endnotes explain the science behind the phenomenon.

A hilarious autumnal comedy of errors. (Picture book. 4-7)