An amusing, subdued story with exemplary illustrations, this sweet flight of fancy will find a young audience eager to...
A confection of marshmallows harbors quixotic dreams of greatness.
“Most marshmallows don’t grow on trees,” starts this understated story. With quiet humor, the text informs children that, like them, “Most marshmallows are mostly born to one sweet parent or two,” and that “They go to school most mornings / and learn to be squishy and how to stand in rows.” Most marshmallows seem to navigate with equanimity the realities and dramas of domestic life, like a bursting backpack or a dinner tantrum. “But some marshmallows somehow secretly know / that all marshmallows / can do anything / or be anything / they dare to imagine.” The inventive, sly, mixed-media illustrations provide wit and delight only hinted at by the spare, idiosyncratic prose. A mixture of paper collage, photographs of objects (like a cardboard dinner table loaded with plastic carrots), and hilariously expressive line drawings on real marshmallows pack beauty, tension, and drama into each page. An unnecessary throughline involving dragons slightly mars the overall feel of the story, especially the jarring ending in which a marshmallow knight breathes fire at one; the humor and kid appeal work perfectly without that bit of pandering.
An amusing, subdued story with exemplary illustrations, this sweet flight of fancy will find a young audience eager to devour it. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: April 30, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4521-5959-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 14, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2019
A disappointing follow-up.
Inventor Izzy Gizmo is back in this sequel to her eponymous debut (2017).
While busily inventing one day, Izzy receives an invitation from the Genius Guild to their annual convention. Though Izzy’s “inventions…don’t always work,” Grandpa (apparently her sole caregiver) encourages her to go. The next day they undertake a long journey “over fields, hills, and waves” and “mile after mile” to isolated Technoff Isle. There, Izzy finds she must compete against four other kids to create the most impressive machine. The colorful, detail-rich illustrations chronicle how poor Izzy is thwarted at every turn by Abi von Lavish, a Veruca Salt–esque character who takes all the supplies for herself. But when Abi abandons her project, Izzy salvages the pieces and decides to take Grandpa’s advice to create a machine that “can really be put to good use.” A frustrated Izzy’s impatience with a friend almost foils her chance at the prize, but all’s well that ends well. There’s much to like: Brown-skinned inventor girl Izzy is an appealing character, it’s great to see a nurturing brown-skinned male caregiver, the idea of an “Invention Convention” is fun, and a sustainable-energy invention is laudable. However, these elements don’t make up for rhymes that often feel forced and a lackluster story.
A disappointing follow-up. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-68263-164-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020
A valuable asset to the library of a child who experiences anxiety and a great book to get children talking about their...
Ruby is an adventurous and happy child until the day she discovers a Worry.
Ruby barely sees the Worry—depicted as a blob of yellow with a frowny unibrow—at first, but as it hovers, the more she notices it and the larger it grows. The longer Ruby is affected by this Worry, the fewer colors appear on the page. Though she tries not to pay attention to the Worry, which no one else can see, ignoring it prevents her from enjoying the things that she once loved. Her constant anxiety about the Worry causes the bright yellow blob to crowd Ruby’s everyday life, which by this point is nearly all washes of gray and white. But at the playground, Ruby sees a boy sitting on a bench with a growing sky-blue Worry of his own. When she invites the boy to talk, his Worry begins to shrink—and when Ruby talks about her own Worry, it also grows smaller. By the book’s conclusion, Ruby learns to control her Worry by talking about what worries her, a priceless lesson for any child—or adult—conveyed in a beautifully child-friendly manner. Ruby presents black, with hair in cornrows and two big afro-puff pigtails, while the boy has pale skin and spiky black hair.
A valuable asset to the library of a child who experiences anxiety and a great book to get children talking about their feelings (. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5476-0237-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
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