A pencil goes through an existential crisis when his eraser criticizes his art.
The upcoming art show and its attendant grand prize have got Linus, a little yellow pencil, and all the other art supplies (crayons, a paintbrush, and a ruler, among others) very excited. But at the other end from Linus’ point, eraser Ernie is extremely critical of Linus’ drawings. Ernie moves from embarrassment at their quality to outright anger, and he takes it out on Linus. The pencil’s cheerful expression soon morphs from worry through sadness and shock to depression as Linus watches the other supplies creating beautiful work. Then, “feeling dull,” Linus meets Smudge in a “cave” (a pencil sharpener) and gets some solid advice about using the talents you have when you are able: “Find your path by drawing it.” And Linus does just that, finding a way for him to draw and for Ernie to erase that creates something totally new and different. Readers will notice that although their work attracts a crowd at the show, no grand prize is awarded, which makes the ending more of a fizzle than a finale. Magoon’s digital artwork uses scanned paper textures manipulated in Photoshop, with color used masterfully—the result emphasizes the different looks achieved by using the various art supplies. The simple but expressive faces on the implements are standouts.
Magoon gets his message across: Be the best you you can be. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: June 4, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-368-00627-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 8, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
Categories: CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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Monster lives in Cutesville, where he feels his googly eyes make him unlovable, especially compared to all the “cute, fluffy” kittens, puppies and bunnies. He goes off to find someone who will appreciate him just the way he is…with funny and heartwarming results.
A red, scraggly, pointy-eared, arm-dragging monster with a pronounced underbite clutches his monster doll to one side of his chest, exposing a purplish blue heart on the other. His oversized eyes express his loneliness. Bright could not have created a more sympathetic and adorable character. But she further impresses with the telling of this poor chap’s journey. Since Monster is not the “moping-around sort,” he strikes out on his own to find someone who will love him. “He look[s] high” from on top of a hill, and “he look[s] low” at the bottom of the same hill. The page turn reveals a rolling (and labeled) tumbleweed on a flat stretch. Here “he look[s] middle-ish.” Careful pacing combines with dramatic design and the deadpan text to make this sad search a very funny one. When it gets dark and scary, he decides to head back home. A bus’s headlights shine on his bent figure. All seems hopeless—until the next page surprises, with a smiling, orange monster with long eyelashes and a pink heart on her chest depicted at the wheel. And “in the blink of a googly eye / everything change[s].”
This seemingly simple tale packs a satisfying emotional punch. Scarily good! (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Dec. 31, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-374-34646-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2013
Categories: CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S PARANORMAL & SUPERNATURAL
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A diverse cast of children first makes a fleet of hot air balloons and then takes to the sky in them.
Lifestyle maven Gaines uses this activity as a platform to celebrate diversity in learning and working styles. Some people like to work together; others prefer a solo process. Some take pains to plan extensively; others know exactly what they want and jump right in. Some apply science; others demonstrate artistic prowess. But “see how beautiful it can be when / our differences share the same sky?” Double-page spreads leading up to this moment of liftoff are laid out such that rhyming abcb quatrains typically contain one or two opposing concepts: “Some of us are teachers / and share what we know. / But all of us are learners. / Together is how we grow!” In the accompanying illustration, a bespectacled, Asian-presenting child at a blackboard lectures the other children on “balloon safety.” Gaines’ text has the ring of sincerity, but the sentiment is hardly an original one, and her verse frequently sacrifices scansion for rhyme. Sometimes it abandons both: “We may not look / or work or think the same, / but we all have an / important part to play.” Swaney’s delicate, pastel-hued illustrations do little to expand on the text, but they are pretty. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11.2-by-18.6-inch double-page spreads viewed at 70.7% of actual size.)
As insubstantial as hot air. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Nov. 10, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4003-1423-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tommy Nelson
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2021
Categories: CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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