A tender, whimsical look at growth, change, and sisters.
“I’d had my suspicions for a while…that someone had replaced my sister with a girl who looked a lot like her. It had to be!”
These words spread over the opening double-page spread, which presents a small girl kneeling on the floor, surrounded by scattered photographs and gazing disconsolately at a family album. On the next page, she is in a kitchen, staring at her big sister, who “was never so tall.” The art is arresting and amusing, a skillful combination of watercolor and other media, using a limited palette. Young readers with older siblings may recognize signs of adolescence considered typical in Western society: a sudden refusal to engage in childish games; secretiveness—“even when it wasn’t close to my birthday”—new intimacy with Mum; pervasive door-slamming. One telling, funny moment occurs when the protagonist turns to her sister’s friends for clues: “but something wasn’t right with them either. And it wasn’t just that a lot of them were boys.” This passage is accompanied by a lineup of wired-in, apathetic-looking teenagers. Despite stereotyping, the book is noteworthy for taking the viewpoint of a younger sibling instead of the more common theme of a beleaguered older child. Gently humorous art and text transform a simple story into a haven for children feeling temporarily sibling-wary.
A tender, whimsical look at growth, change, and sisters. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Nov. 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-909263-52-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Flying Eye Books
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Nice to see you again, David! (Picture book. 4-6)
As if he couldn’t get into trouble enough on his own, David has a big brother to “help.”
Returning to his hapless alter (?) ego after eight years (It’s Christmas, David!, 2010), Shannon brings his older sibling—or at least, to judge from the pictures, said sibling’s lower portions—into play for a series of moments captioned by phrases that will be ultrafamiliar to all but only children: “No, David!” “You’re too little.” “Stop following me!” “That’s mine!” Drawn as before in a loose style with visible corrections and mottled, garishly colored backgrounds, the illustrations capture both the emotional intensity of David’s roller-coaster world and, in hilarious close-up tableaux, a series of brotherly tussles, pranks, domestic disasters, and goofy bids for attention. Many of Caldecott honoree No, David!’s iconic illustrations are mirrored here, including some mild (if catastrophic for the plumbing) potty humor, a close-up of David’s wide-open, bawling mouth, and both brothers in timeout. Just to show that big bro’s not entirely a brat, after David wangles his way into a big kids’ football game and gets clobbered, he gets a noogie and a “Nice catch!” that give the end a note of rough affection. Both brothers present white.
Nice to see you again, David! (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-338-25097-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Blue Sky/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A bit message-heavy and twee, but feline fans will show up.
Spinach wants to fit in with the other kittens (and secretly dreams of being a superkitty).
Because of a malformed chest, Spinach can’t play like the other kittens in the shelter. She longs for a blue card on her kennel, which means a cat is bound for Foreverland. Instead, she’s whisked away to a strange room full of humans in white coats, where she learns that she has a condition called pectus excavatum. When she awakens after an operation, she finds a plate on her chest and believes it gives her superpowers. She’s moved to Fosterland, where she meets another kitten called Chickpea, who looks up to Spinach. The duo escape their enclosure, avoid a giant human, and discover a group of kittens trapped in a strange machine. Can they rescue the kittens? And what happens when Spinach’s chest plate vanishes? The second in cat rescuer and internet personality Shaw’s series is mostly unconnected to the first. The cats use words and concepts they could not have encountered in their lives while misunderstanding others for effect and plot (Spinach knows what a lasso and ice cubes are but thinks that a cat carrier is a hovercraft). The can-do message is repeated to the point of didacticism. Experienced chapter readers may be put off. Upping the sweetness quotient, Johnson’s adorable, black-and-white full-page and spot illustrations are a plus.
A bit message-heavy and twee, but feline fans will show up. (information about the real Spinach and Chickpea) (Fiction. 5-7)Pub Date: June 7, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-66590-125-3
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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