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TWO RAINBOWS

Name: TWO RAINBOWS
Author: Sophie Masson
ISBN: 978-1-76012-779-4

by Sophie Masson ; illustrated by Michael McMahon ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2018

A lovely city-country story that celebrates finding your place, and your color, in the world around you.

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Spare, poetic text depicts the contrasts and connections between a young protagonist’s life in the country and in the city.

The young narrator, with a blank face, a black pageboy, and skin color that changes hue from spread to spread, spies a rainbow from the window of a house in the city. Recently moved from the country, the child misses the pastoral expanse that’s been left behind. Each color of the rainbow represents bright memories that contrast with the noisy, bustling, gray city: a red mailbox next to a laundromat vs. a shiny red tractor in a field; a tiny discarded orange peel vs. orange twine around fluffy hay bales at sunset; a torn green poster vs. vast green fields after a rain. But then the clouds at the beginning of the book return as violet storm clouds—the same clouds that lowered over the farm. Two rainbows symbolize two lives—each with its own spectrum of colors. Digital illustrations contrast these two environments effectively, juxtaposing tall, monochrome buildings that crowd out the gray sky against small elements of farm life that sit at the bottom of the spreads with the rest of the pages devoted to the vibrant, colorful sky. Sharp-eyed readers will notice other tiny instances of color in the city spreads.

A lovely city-country story that celebrates finding your place, and your color, in the world around you. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: June 1, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-76012-779-4

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Little Hare/Trafalgar

Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS

- BOOK REVIEW
THERE'S A TIGER OUT THERE!
by Sophie Masson ; illustrated by Ruth Waters

- BOOK REVIEW
THE ROAD TO CAMELOT
edited by Sophie Masson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE MADMAN OF VENICE
by Sophie Masson

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THE CRAYONS GO BACK TO SCHOOL

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.

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS

- BOOK REVIEW
THE DAY THE CRAYONS MADE FRIENDS
by Drew Daywalt ; illustrated by Oliver Jeffers

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE FREDDIE TWO PANTS
by Drew Daywalt ; illustrated by Lucy Ruth Cummins

- BOOK REVIEW
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY FROM THE CRAYONS
by Drew Daywalt ; illustrated by Oliver Jeffers

- SEEN & HEARD
Daywalt, Jeffers Collaborate on New ‘Crayons’ Book

- SEEN & HEARD
Daywalt, Jeffers Collaborate on New ‘Crayons’ Book

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A BIKE LIKE SERGIO'S

by Maribeth Boelts ; illustrated by Noah Z. Jones ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 4, 2016

Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on...

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Continuing from their acclaimed Those Shoes (2007), Boelts and Jones entwine conversations on money, motives, and morality.

This second collaboration between author and illustrator is set within an urban multicultural streetscape, where brown-skinned protagonist Ruben wishes for a bike like his friend Sergio’s. He wishes, but Ruben knows too well the pressure his family feels to prioritize the essentials. While Sergio buys a pack of football cards from Sonny’s Grocery, Ruben must buy the bread his mom wants. A familiar lady drops what Ruben believes to be a $1 bill, but picking it up, to his shock, he discovers $100! Is this Ruben’s chance to get himself the bike of his dreams? In a fateful twist, Ruben loses track of the C-note and is sent into a panic. After finally finding it nestled deep in a backpack pocket, he comes to a sense of moral clarity: “I remember how it was for me when that money that was hers—then mine—was gone.” When he returns the bill to her, the lady offers Ruben her blessing, leaving him with double-dipped emotions, “happy and mixed up, full and empty.” Readers will be pleased that there’s no reward for Ruben’s choice of integrity beyond the priceless love and warmth of a family’s care and pride.

Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on children. (Picture book. 5-8)