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DEAR JUNO

Name: DEAR JUNO
Author: Soyung Pak
ISBN: 0-670-88252-6

by Soyung Pak ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1999

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Picture-book debuts for both author and illustrator result in an affectionate glimpse of intergenerational bonds. Juno loves to get letters in the red-and-blue bordered airmail envelopes that come from his grandmother, who lives in Korea, near Seoul. He cannot read Korean, but he opens the letter anyway, and learns what he can from what his grandmother has sent: a photograph of herself and her new cat, and a dried flower from her garden. When his parents read him the letter, he realizes how much he learned from the other things his grandmother mailed to him. He creates some drawings of himself, his parents, house, and dog, and sends them along with a big leaf from his swinging tree. He gets back a package that includes drawing pencils and a small airplane—the grandmother is coming to visit. The messages that can be conveyed without words, language differences between generations, and family ties across great distances are gently and affectingly handled in this first picture book. The illustrations, done in oil-paint glazes, are beautifully lit; the characters, particularly Grandmother, with her bowl of persimmons, her leafy garden, and her grey bun that looks “like a powdered doughnut,” are charming. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999

ISBN: 0-670-88252-6

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1999

Categories:

CHILDREN'S FAMILY

- BOOK REVIEW
SUMI’S FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL EVER
by Soyung Pak & illustrated by Joung Un Kim

- BOOK REVIEW
A PLACE TO GROW
by Soyung Pak & illustrated by Marcelino Truong

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WHAT! CRIED GRANNY

AN ALMOST BEDTIME STORY

by Kate Lum ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1999

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With the help of shrewd, patient grandmother, Patrick scores a victory for all bedtime foot-draggers in this energetic debut of two children’s book newcomers. With the sun on the horizon, Patrick points out that he has no bed; springing into action, Granny chops down a tree, hauls out her toolbox and presents him with a fine new bed. Unfortunately, as a poker-faced Patrick complains in succession, he has no pillow, blanket, or teddy; by the time Granny—quietly, relentlessly toiling on despite her Herculean tasks—has finished gathering chicken feathers, weaving wool, and converting the curtains into a huge purple bear, morning sunlight is flooding in. Johnson gives his illustrations a 1960s retro look, with canted perspectives, long slanted borders, and a color scheme involving turquoise, orange-reds, and pastel greens; these colors, evenly applied in large background fields, cool off as sunset deepens into night, then warm to signal the approaching day, slyly preparing viewers for the concluding punchline. Children will snuggle down with smiles on their faces after this comic spin on the paraphernalia associated with a common ritual. (Picture book. 5-7)

Pub Date: April 1, 1999

ISBN: 0-8037-2382-2

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1999

Categories:

CHILDREN'S FAMILY

- BOOK REVIEW
PRINCESSES ARE NOT JUST PRETTY
by Kate Lum ; illustrated by Sue Hellard

- BOOK REVIEW
PRINCESSES ARE NOT PERFECT
by Kate Lum & illustrated by Preston McDaniels by Preston McDaniels & illustrated by Sue Hellard

- BOOK REVIEW
PRINCESSES ARE NOT QUITTERS!
by Kate Lum & illustrated by Sue Hellard

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MR. BEAR'S NEW BABY

by Debi Gliori ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1999

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Gliori (Mr. Bear Babysits, etc.) offers a version of the adage that it takes a village to raise a child, when Mr. and Mrs. Bear get help from a community of loving friends in soothing their fretful newborn. When the serenity of the nighttime forest is shattered by the incessant wailing of Mr. Bear’s newest child, the woodland animals offer the bleary parents suggestions on how they put their own offspring to sleep. With ingenious and amusing results, Gliori devises forest-appropriate baby furniture, from Mr. Bun’s lettuce and carrot cradle to Mrs. Buzz’s honey-filled hive. Alas, none of these remedies works and soon the friends drift back to their own homes. Only Small Bear can enlighten her parents as to what the baby needs—a warm snuggle in bed with the family. The endearing illustrations are brimming with humorous details. The bedroom of Mr. and Mrs. Bear looks as if a small whirlwind hit it—it is strewn with tiny clothes, small toys, the ubiquitous pile of baby care manuals, ointment, and more—deftly conveying the way one very small and helpless creature can reorient a family’s entire universe. (Picture book. 3-6)