A tried-and-true friendship story executed with creativity and verve
Hector and Louie are such great friends that they’re writing a book about being best friends. This is that book.
Watson offers a unique take on metafiction with this story of Louie, a black boy, and Hector, a boy who appears to be Asian, who are full of irrepressible energy and humor. Pham uses refined, clean-lined drawings to depict the real boys, while messy crayon illustrations indicate the pictures that the boys have drawn of themselves. In their book, the two friends list the reasons they are so compatible, including their mutual love of pythons, knock-knock jokes, and dancing. However, when it comes to keeping secrets, neither of them is very adept, and soon a few accidental slips devolve into a war of name-calling and insults. Illustrations show their real hands drawing kissy hearts and bawling babies in mockery, while mustaches and devil horns adorn each other’s likenesses. Soon, their friendship ends, as does their co-authorship, and each begins writing his own book. The inevitable and unsurprising happy ending resolves rather quickly, but this book is not about plot. It’s about the visual delight of seeing both the real and crayon versions of the characters use their joyful (or angry) energy to celebrate creativity and friendship. The raucous endpapers alone are worth the price of admission.
A tried-and-true friendship story executed with creativity and verve . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-545-65988-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
A close encounter of the best kind.
Left behind when the space bus departs, a child discovers that the moon isn’t as lifeless as it looks.
While the rest of the space-suited class follows the teacher like ducklings, one laggard carrying crayons and a sketchbook sits down to draw our home planet floating overhead, falls asleep, and wakes to see the bus zooming off. The bright yellow bus, the gaggle of playful field-trippers, and even the dull gray boulders strewn over the equally dull gray lunar surface have a rounded solidity suggestive of Plasticine models in Hare’s wordless but cinematic scenes…as do the rubbery, one-eyed, dull gray creatures (think: those stress-busting dolls with ears that pop out when squeezed) that emerge from the regolith. The mutual shock lasts but a moment before the lunarians eagerly grab the proffered crayons to brighten the bland gray setting with silly designs. The creatures dive into the dust when the bus swoops back down but pop up to exchange goodbye waves with the errant child, who turns out to be an olive-skinned kid with a mop of brown hair last seen drawing one of their new friends with the one crayon—gray, of course—left in the box. Body language is expressive enough in this debut outing to make a verbal narrative superfluous.
A close encounter of the best kind. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: May 14, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4253-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Margaret Ferguson/Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Feb. 5, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019
A somewhat self-indulgent, adult-friendly reminiscence elevated by beautiful art.
In this tale based on one of Polacco’s childhood experiences, a kind librarian encourages a girl’s interests.
After the death of Trsha's grandmother, her grandfather sells the family farm. Trisha’s mother moves her and her brother from the country to a converted coach house rental in Battle Creek, Michigan, until the next school year, when they are set to move to California. At school, Trisha is a little bit of an odd duck with her impressive bird knowledge, and she struggles with reading—these tensions are only barely touched on, though. Librarian Mrs. Creavy nurtures Trisha’s interest in birds by introducing her to John James Audubon’s art. Trisha’s bird drawings impress her classmates enough that they pick a bird theme for their classroom’s open house. Mrs. Creavy also provides the class with tickets for a nearby bird sanctuary, so Trisha can further share her avian adoration—her peers join her in feathered fine art creations, prompting Mrs. Creavy to bring in “the Michigan state chairman of the Audubon bird clubs of America” for the founding of their school’s chapter, with Trisha the first member. The story is sweet but slightly more geared to adult sensibilities than children’s, and it is a touch narratively unbalanced—where it shines the most is in the juxtaposition between the child artists’ charming works and the author/illustrator’s bright, exquisite birds. Most characters, including Trisha and her family, present White. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A somewhat self-indulgent, adult-friendly reminiscence elevated by beautiful art. (author’s note) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: March 7, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-5344-5131-5
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022
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