by Sarah Stewart ; illustrated by David Small ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 27, 2019
A book likely to be snapped up by book lovers.
Finding a special book is like discovering a new best friend; Stewart and Small celebrate the friendships between books and readers.
Color-washed in soothing purples, Small’s trademark loose drawings depict characters of multiple gender presentations, races, and ages from infant to adult. A baby on its parent’s lap chews a book cover. Waking at night, a scared child reaches for a comforting book. A naturalist in the field refers to a guide to identify butterflies. Other examples show readers inspired to draw the story they’ve just read, perform a dramatic reading for an audience, translate the notes of a score into music, or simply read for pleasure on the beach. Within each spread, that reader’s special book stands out in a splash of contrasting color. Particularly friendly to early readers, the text is simple and written in the tone and form of a vow of friendship. It begins: “I take this book… / to be my friend” and ends “A treasure for a lifetime, / this book friend of mine.” Short rhyming couplets describe the scenes on most spreads and explore the wide-ranging relationships readers have with books, including a book’s memory-evoking scent: “To open it wide / and put my nose inside.”
A book likely to be snapped up by book lovers. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 27, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-374-30546-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: April 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2019
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by Mo Willems ; illustrated by Mo Willems ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 25, 2016
Laugh-out-loud fun for all.
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Hilarious complications ensue when Nanette’s mom gives her the responsibility of buying the family baguette.
She sets out on her errand and encounters lots of distractions along the way as she meets and greets Georgette, Suzette, Bret with his clarinet, Mr. Barnett and his pet, Antoinette. But she remembers her mission and buys the baguette from Juliette the baker. And oh, it is a wonderful large, warm, aromatic hunk of bread, so Nanette takes a taste and another and more—until there is nothing left. Maybe she needs to take a jet to Tibet. But she faces her mother and finds understanding, tenderness, and a surprise twist. Willems is at his outlandish best with line after line of “ettes” and their absurd rhymes, all the while demonstrating a deep knowledge of children’s thought processes. Nanette and the entire cast of characters are bright green frogs with very large round eyes, heavily outlined in black and clad in eccentric clothing and hats. A highly detailed village constructed of cardboard forms the background for Nanette’s adventures. Her every emotion explodes all over the pages in wildly expressive, colorful vignettes and an eye-popping use of emphatic display type. The endpapers follow the fate of the baguette from fresh and whole to chewed and gone. Demands for encores will surely follow.
Laugh-out-loud fun for all. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 25, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4847-2286-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2016
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by Drew Daywalt ; illustrated by Oliver Jeffers ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 16, 2023
Nothing new here but a nonetheless congenial matriculant in publishing’s autumnal rite of back-to-school offerings.
The Crayons head back to class in this latest series entry.
Daywalt’s expository text lays out the basics as various Crayons wave goodbye to the beach, choose a first-day outfit, greet old friends, and make new ones. As in previous outings, the perennially droll illustrations and hand-lettered Crayon-speak drive the humor. The ever wrapperless Peach, opining, “What am I going to wear?” surveys three options: top hat and tails, a chef’s toque and apron, and a Santa suit. New friends Chunky Toddler Crayon (who’s missing a bite-sized bit of their blue point) and Husky Toddler Crayon speculate excitedly on their common last name: “I wonder if we’re related!” White Crayon, all but disappearing against the page’s copious white space, sits cross-legged reading a copy of H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man. And Yellow and Orange, notable for their previous existential argument about the color of the sun, find agreement in science class: Jupiter, clearly, is yellow AND orange. Everybody’s excited about art class—“Even if they make a mess. Actually…ESPECIALLY if they make a mess!” Here, a spread of crayoned doodles of butterflies, hearts, and stars is followed by one with fulsome scribbles. Fans of previous outings will spot cameos from Glow in the Dark and yellow-caped Esteban (the Crayon formerly known as Pea Green). (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Nothing new here but a nonetheless congenial matriculant in publishing’s autumnal rite of back-to-school offerings. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: May 16, 2023
ISBN: 9780593621110
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
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by Drew Daywalt ; illustrated by Alex Willmore
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