by Sanne te Loo ; illustrated by Sanne te Loo ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2014
Genuinely sweet.
Long after she’s back home in the city, a little girl dreams of her vacation by the sea.
On the last day of her vacation, Mia finds a pair of swim fins on the beach. She thinks they are “mermaid shoes” and is very excited that they fit. She takes them back home with her, where the rumble of traffic reminds her of the murmur of the sea. Mia wears her fins everywhere, but kids on the playground tell her that she can’t be a mermaid without a tail. So Mia makes one out of one of her mother’s skirts. Now where should she go? The sea is too far away, so Mia rides her bicycle to the zoo. She remembers a sea there. What she finds, behind the safety of glass, are sharks; no place for a mermaid. She tries the river—too deep and no big fish—and a museum, which has an impressive hall dedicated to the oceans. But it’s too dry. Mia returns home, sadly. Suddenly, she hears a familiar gentle murmur and, when she follows it, feels drops of water on her face. It’s her neighborhood fountain—and just where this little mermaid belongs. Te Loo’s loving paean to childhood imagination is told with refreshing directness and complete respect for her heroine. The many panoramic illustrations have a dreamy, joyful vibe that is greatly enhanced by masterful use of color and perspective.
Genuinely sweet. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-935954-35-4
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Lemniscaat USA
Review Posted Online: Feb. 18, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2014
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by Jef Aerts ; illustrated by Sanne te Loo ; translated by Polly Lawson
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by Sanne te Loo & illustrated by Sanne te Loo
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by Rebecca Elliott ; illustrated by Rebecca Elliott ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 26, 2019
A surprisingly nuanced lesson set in confidence-building, easy-to-decode text.
A unicorn learns a friendship lesson in this chapter-book series opener.
Unicorn Bo has friends but longs for a “bestie.” Luckily, a new unicorn pops into existence (literally: Unicorns appear on especially starry nights) and joins Bo at the Sparklegrove School for Unicorns, where they study things like unicorn magic. Each unicorn has a special power; Bo’s is granting wishes. Not knowing what his own might be distresses new unicorn Sunny. When the week’s assignment is to earn a patch by using their unicorn powers to help someone, Bo hopes Sunny will wish to know Bo's power (enabling both unicorns to complete the task, and besides, Bo enjoys Sunny’s company and wants to help him). But when the words come out wrong, Sunny thinks Bo was feigning friendship to get to grant a wish and earn a patch, setting up a fairly sophisticated conflict. Bo makes things up to Sunny, and then—with the unicorns friends again and no longer trying to force their powers—arising circumstances enable them to earn their patches. The cheerful illustrations feature a sherbet palette, using patterns for texture; on busy pages with background colors similar to the characters’ color schemes, this combines with the absence of outlines to make discerning some individual characters a challenge. The format, familiar to readers of Elliott’s Owl Diaries series, uses large print and speech bubbles to keep pages to a manageable amount of text.
A surprisingly nuanced lesson set in confidence-building, easy-to-decode text. (Fantasy. 5-8)Pub Date: Dec. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-32332-0
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2019
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by Rebecca Elliott ; illustrated by Rebecca Elliott
by Jessie Sima ; illustrated by Jessie Sima ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 2, 2023
Weathers heavy themes with breezy sensitivity…and unicorns!
Emotional storm clouds come between two unicorn friends.
Harking back to Not Quite Narwhal (2017) in both cast and tone, Sima offers a friendship tale in which Kelp’s close and aptly named pal Nimbus acquires a dark little cloud that rains when she feels down. The more she tries to ignore it or bottle it up, the bigger it gets…until it finally breaks out in a storm that sends her fleeing all company to huddle alone in a gloomy forest. There, she discovers that recognizing and getting to know the cloud actually makes it shrink—and just as she’s feeling a bit better, Kelp gallops into view, which sets the stage for a joyful reunion depicted in the sweet, softly hued illustrations with an exuberant rainbow swirl. Kelp, who turns out to be “a very good listener,” acknowledges the cloud matter-of-factly, and Nimbus comes to understand that though she may have up days and down days to come, weathering the latter with an accepting friend will make them easier. If some young readers subject to or familiar with similar storms (or a bit foggy on what a metaphor is) need explanation or discussion about depression to clear the air, the comforting message nonetheless shines brightly. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Weathers heavy themes with breezy sensitivity…and unicorns! (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781665916981
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 7, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
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More by Jessie Sima
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by Jessie Sima ; illustrated by Jessie Sima
BOOK REVIEW
by Jessie Sima ; illustrated by Jessie Sima
BOOK REVIEW
by Jessie Sima ; illustrated by Jessie Sima
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