On close inspection, it is so much more than it seems: a delightful picture book about a girl child discovering a wondrous...
Ostensibly, this is a story about a girl and her ball and the rain: Mina wants to play soccer, but the monsoon has arrived in her South Asian village.
When her mother tells her to stay inside to prevent catching cold, Mina turns to her sandalwood elephant: “Ammi doesn’t understand…she has never felt that explosion of happiness when you score a goal.” To deal with her frustration, she drums on the tabla to chase away the rain. She asks the doodh wallah why it has to rain; the milkman tells her that the monsoons are a time “to dance and be happy.” Mina dances to stop the rain. Finally, in searching for craft supplies in her mother’s cabinet, Mina finds something that she has never seen before—Ammi’s soccer jersey! Mina realizes that Ammi does understand, and when the clouds break, Mina and Ammi play soccer together. The book’s backmatter includes a glossary with pronunciations for Hindi/Urdu words in the book. Many such phrases appear in the text without adjacent translations (“Nahi beta, stay inside,” Mina’s mother says, without explanation), which is very refreshing for readers who may see themselves in Mina, while context makes them accessible to non-Hindi/Urdu speakers. Dasgupta’s illustrations are dynamic and evocative, complementing Guidroz’s energetic text well, her big-eyed characters exuding energy and verve.
On close inspection, it is so much more than it seems: a delightful picture book about a girl child discovering a wondrous secret about her mother. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-949528-98-5
Page Count: 38
Publisher: Yali Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions.
Ellis, known for her illustrations for Colin Meloy’s Wildwood series, here riffs on the concept of “home.”
Shifting among homes mundane and speculative, contemporary and not, Ellis begins and ends with views of her own home and a peek into her studio. She highlights palaces and mansions, but she also takes readers to animal homes and a certain famously folkloric shoe (whose iconic Old Woman manages a passel of multiethnic kids absorbed in daring games). One spread showcases “some folks” who “live on the road”; a band unloads its tour bus in front of a theater marquee. Ellis’ compelling ink and gouache paintings, in a palette of blue-grays, sepia and brick red, depict scenes ranging from mythical, underwater Atlantis to a distant moonscape. Another spread, depicting a garden and large building under connected, transparent domes, invites readers to wonder: “Who in the world lives here? / And why?” (Earth is seen as a distant blue marble.) Some of Ellis’ chosen depictions, oddly juxtaposed and stripped of any historical or cultural context due to the stylized design and spare text, become stereotypical. “Some homes are boats. / Some homes are wigwams.” A sailing ship’s crew seems poised to land near a trio of men clad in breechcloths—otherwise unidentified and unremarked upon.
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6529-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
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