Sweet and effective.
A little yellow bird helps a menace mend his destructive ways.
In a cave at the top of a mountain in the middle of a forest lives a giant, depicted as a hulking, bald, white man in jeans and a pinstriped shirt. He spends all day pulling up trees, hurling logs, and smashing mountains. (Basically, what giants do.) After years of this, all the animals and birds have been scared away, and the once-large forest has become quite small. Without the song of the birds or wood to make a fire in his cave, the giant becomes very lonely. One day a little yellow bird appears, singing a beautiful song. The giant catches her and puts her in a cage, thinking this way he’ll be able to hear her singing all day long, easing his loneliness. But caged, the bird grows too sad to sing. The giant sets her free. Hoping to lure her back to the forest, the giant sets to work rebuilding it: he sows seeds, plants trees, and mends the mountains. In time, the forest blossoms with life again. The little yellow bird returns, and the giant is happy at last. Charmingly illustrated in acrylic, watercolor, and colored pencil, Ambrose’s ecological fable speaks to the value of friendship as well. Adult readers won’t have much trouble seeing the parable, and child readers, though they may not grasp the nuances, will get the message as well.
Sweet and effective. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7636-8225-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
A disappointing follow-up.
Inventor Izzy Gizmo is back in this sequel to her eponymous debut (2017).
While busily inventing one day, Izzy receives an invitation from the Genius Guild to their annual convention. Though Izzy’s “inventions…don’t always work,” Grandpa (apparently her sole caregiver) encourages her to go. The next day they undertake a long journey “over fields, hills, and waves” and “mile after mile” to isolated Technoff Isle. There, Izzy finds she must compete against four other kids to create the most impressive machine. The colorful, detail-rich illustrations chronicle how poor Izzy is thwarted at every turn by Abi von Lavish, a Veruca Salt–esque character who takes all the supplies for herself. But when Abi abandons her project, Izzy salvages the pieces and decides to take Grandpa’s advice to create a machine that “can really be put to good use.” A frustrated Izzy’s impatience with a friend almost foils her chance at the prize, but all’s well that ends well. There’s much to like: Brown-skinned inventor girl Izzy is an appealing character, it’s great to see a nurturing brown-skinned male caregiver, the idea of an “Invention Convention” is fun, and a sustainable-energy invention is laudable. However, these elements don’t make up for rhymes that often feel forced and a lackluster story.
A disappointing follow-up. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-68263-164-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020
A valuable asset to the library of a child who experiences anxiety and a great book to get children talking about their...
Ruby is an adventurous and happy child until the day she discovers a Worry.
Ruby barely sees the Worry—depicted as a blob of yellow with a frowny unibrow—at first, but as it hovers, the more she notices it and the larger it grows. The longer Ruby is affected by this Worry, the fewer colors appear on the page. Though she tries not to pay attention to the Worry, which no one else can see, ignoring it prevents her from enjoying the things that she once loved. Her constant anxiety about the Worry causes the bright yellow blob to crowd Ruby’s everyday life, which by this point is nearly all washes of gray and white. But at the playground, Ruby sees a boy sitting on a bench with a growing sky-blue Worry of his own. When she invites the boy to talk, his Worry begins to shrink—and when Ruby talks about her own Worry, it also grows smaller. By the book’s conclusion, Ruby learns to control her Worry by talking about what worries her, a priceless lesson for any child—or adult—conveyed in a beautifully child-friendly manner. Ruby presents black, with hair in cornrows and two big afro-puff pigtails, while the boy has pale skin and spiky black hair.
A valuable asset to the library of a child who experiences anxiety and a great book to get children talking about their feelings (. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5476-0237-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
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