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
A fascinating, splendidly executed peek into both the mundane and the dramatic aspects of lighthouse life.
This tribute to lighthouses of an earlier era focuses on one lighthouse and its dedicated keeper.
Perched “on the highest rock of a tiny island / at the edge of the world,” the lighthouse shines for seafaring ships. A new keeper arrives, continuing the endless routine of polishing the lens, refilling the oil, trimming the wick, winding the clockwork, painting the round rooms, fishing, making tea, sending letters to his wife (in bottles), and writing daily in his logbook. One day, a ship delivering supplies brings the keeper’s wife! The keeper rings a warning bell in fog, rescues wrecked sailors, and logs his baby’s birth. When he’s ill, his stalwart wife tends the light and maintains the logbook. Eventually, a mechanical light replaces the keeper. While the spare, unemotional text resembles a keeper’s log, the book’s vertical orientation echoes a lighthouse tower. Rendered in Chinese ink and watercolor, precise, detailed illustrations present the lighthouse surrounded by patterned blue, green, or gray waves depending on the weather or season, reinforcing its solitary enterprise. A cutaway interior view exposes a compact, contained world. Close-ups of the keeper and his wife (both white) in porthole-shaped frames and from unusual aerial views emphasize their isolated, intimate, circular environment. An “About Lighthouses” section adds insightful detail.
A fascinating, splendidly executed peek into both the mundane and the dramatic aspects of lighthouse life. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-36238-2
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 6, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018
PROFILES
A read worth waiting for.
Two children find themselves on a time-traveling adventure while they wait for Grandpa’s cookies to come out of the oven.
When Kat and Ari build a time machine, they set it for “the future, to just after the cookies [are] finished baking.” But they end up bouncing through time—to that evening, when the cookies have already been eaten, then back to their very first time baking with Grandpa as young tots. Then they find themselves in the very distant future. Through this journey, Kat and Ari realize that waiting’s much easier when you lean into enjoying the passage of time together. Soft pastel colors convey this message deftly. Speeding through time, the children fly past an ombre rainbow. A wash of blue instantly indicates a nighttime scene lit by the light of Grandpa’s front porch. The far-off future includes plenty for readers to take in: a house with legs, a dragon-inspired airplane, and special tubes through which townspeople float through in place of streets. Effective use of panels moves the narrative along and gives it a graphic novel–esque feel. This playful story examines a child’s natural impatience while showcasing how very rewarding and special waiting can be. Grandpa has light brown skin, while Kat has tan skin; Ari presents Black.
A read worth waiting for. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2024
ISBN: 9781665936743
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2024
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