The boy's hat is wondrous and needed; the book is good but not essential.
A young boy's versatile hat is the only possession he's got and the only one he needs.
Sitting on a hill surrounded by palm trees, a “boy who had everything” awakens to find all of his possessions gone, from his sewing needle to his birds to his orange stilts. Even his shoes appear to be missing. All that's left are the clothes on his body and a green hat next to him in the morning sun. What follows is a journey to find his belongings during which the boy discovers the many uses of the hat—the thing he now values the most—and what's really important. The unnamed boy takes “a thousand more steps” among “ten thousand strangers” on a quest that tries hard to seem mythical. There is a false note to the dream sequence leading to the muddled ending that leaves the story’s moral unclear. Debut author Barr keeps the language simple and lyrical. Watercolor illustrations vibrating with wobbly lines suggest life and motion in unidentified places that include pillars in ruins and a vibrant outdoor market. The boy, portrayed as having light brown skin and living near a desert, immediately turns to begging with the hat when he can't find help, which could be viewed as stereotypical. The last double-page spread, however, depicting the boy on stilts clomping into the distance wearing the hat while his avian friends play in a birdbath, is a joyous conclusion that defies nitpicking. (This book was reviewed digitally).
The boy's hat is wondrous and needed; the book is good but not essential. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: March 22, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-4521-8202-5
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 24, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2022
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted...
Reinvention is the name of the game for two blobs of clay.
A blue-eyed gray blob and a brown-eyed brown blob sit side by side, unsure as to what’s going to happen next. The gray anticipates an adventure, while the brown appears apprehensive. A pair of hands descends, and soon, amid a flurry of squishing and prodding and poking and sculpting, a handsome gray wolf and a stately brown owl emerge. The hands disappear, leaving the friends to their own devices. The owl is pleased, but the wolf convinces it that the best is yet to come. An ear pulled here and an extra eye placed there, and before you can shake a carving stick, a spurt of frenetic self-exploration—expressed as a tangled black scribble—reveals a succession of smug hybrid beasts. After all, the opportunity to become a “pig-e-phant” doesn’t come around every day. But the sound of approaching footsteps panics the pair of Picassos. How are they going to “fix [them]selves” on time? Soon a hippopotamus and peacock are staring bug-eyed at a returning pair of astonished hands. The creative naiveté of the “clay mates” is perfectly captured by Petty’s feisty, spot-on dialogue: “This was your idea…and it was a BAD one.” Eldridge’s endearing sculpted images are photographed against the stark white background of an artist’s work table to great effect.
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted fun of their own . (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-30311-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre.
Ice princess Lina must navigate family and school in this early chapter read.
The family picnic is today. This is not a typical gathering, since Lina’s maternal relatives are a royal family of Windtamers who have power over the weather and live in castles floating on clouds. Lina herself is mixed race, with black hair and a tan complexion like her Asian-presenting mother’s; her Groundling father appears to be a white human. While making a grand entrance at the castle of her grandfather, the North Wind, she fails to successfully ride a gust of wind and crashes in front of her entire family. This prompts her stern grandfather to ask that Lina move in with him so he can teach her to control her powers. Desperate to avoid this, Lina and her friend Claudia, who is black, get Lina accepted at the Hilltop Science and Arts Academy. Lina’s parents allow her to go as long as she does lessons with grandpa on Saturdays. However, fitting in at a Groundling school is rough, especially when your powers start freak winter storms! With the story unfurling in diary format, bright-pink–highlighted grayscale illustrations help move the plot along. There are slight gaps in the storytelling and the pacing is occasionally uneven, but Lina is full of spunk and promotes self-acceptance.
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre. (Fantasy. 5-8)Pub Date: June 25, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-35393-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
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