A little awkward, but appealing in its uncommon language, unusual hero and kindly artwork.
A Swiss flight of fancy pairs a little girl with a big, white playmate.
On her way to pick berries, Lily discovers a white snow bear slumbering inside a fridge parked on a wintry hillside. He’s gruff, but magical too, granting three wishes: a basket of berries, the ability to fly and freedom from her fear of the dark. Charmingly absurd, this quirky tale slips and slides in pacing and plot. Its cadence (the translation is a little clunky, like a clog) and sensibility (nothing saccharine here: “You don’t know much about snow bears, do you?” and “Shut the door, girl!”) make this somewhat odd tale fresh and unusual. Cool blues and crisp whites cover pages like blankets of snow, their frosty tones invigorated by the valentine red of Lily’s scarf and the yellows of her hair and distant sun. Simple, unadorned and warm, these illustrations recall folk art in their economy and good nature. A fireside ending provides coziness as well. After the snow bear returns sleeping Lily to her doorstep, she shares her adventure with her parents while popping berries like a big, burly bear. Squinting readers will spy the snow bear through the window, flying north on the wind, just as he said he would. Why would he lie, anyway?
A little awkward, but appealing in its uncommon language, unusual hero and kindly artwork. (Picture book. 2-6)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7358-4137-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: NorthSouth
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
So sweet it’ll have readers heading for their toothbrushes.
Another entry in the how-much-I-love-you genre.
The opening spread shows a blue elephant-and-child pair, the child atop the adult, white hearts arcing between their uplifted trunks: “You’re a gift and a blessing in every way. / I love you more each and every day.” From there, the adult elephant goes on to tell the child how they are loved more than all sorts of things, some rhyming better than others: “I love you more than all the spaghetti served in Rome, // and more than each and every dog loves her bone.” More than stars, fireflies, “all the languages spoken in the world,” “all the dancers that have ever twirled,” all the kisses ever given and miles ever driven, “all the adventures you have ahead,” and “all the peanut butter and jelly spread on bread!” Representative of all the world’s languages are “I love you” in several languages (with no pronunciation help): English, Sioux, French, German, Swahili, Spanish, Hawaiian, Chinese, and Arabic (these two last in Roman characters only). Bold colors and simple illustrations with no distracting details keep readers’ focus on the main ideas. Dashed lines give the artwork (and at least one word on every spread) the look of 2-D sewn toys.
So sweet it’ll have readers heading for their toothbrushes. (Picture book. 2-6)Pub Date: Dec. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4926-8398-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Parents of toddlers starting school or day care should seek separation-anxiety remedies elsewhere, and fans of the original...
A sweetened, condensed version of the best-selling picture book, The Kissing Hand.
As in the original, Chester Raccoon is nervous about attending Owl’s night school (raccoons are nocturnal). His mom kisses him on the paw and reminds him, “With a Kissing Hand… / We’ll never be apart.” The text boils the story down to its key elements, causing this version to feel rushed. Gone is the list of fun things Chester will get to do at school. Fans of the original may be disappointed that this board edition uses a different illustrator. Gibson’s work is equally sentimental, but her renderings are stiff and flat in comparison to the watercolors of Harper and Leak. Very young readers will probably not understand that Owl’s tree, filled with opossums, a squirrel, a chipmunk and others, is supposed to be a school.
Parents of toddlers starting school or day care should seek separation-anxiety remedies elsewhere, and fans of the original shouldn’t look to this version as replacement for their page-worn copies. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-933718-77-4
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Tanglewood Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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