An engaging picture book about humans’ best friends and companions.
A simple, moving origin story of dogs for young readers, told with touching illustrations and a religious theme.
Thompson’s debut children’s picture book is a tale of how dogs came to exist and why humans love them so much. A blind and deaf boy named Brian knows the world only through touch; when members of his family want to tell him they love him, he can’t experience their words and smiles—only their touch. God wants to demonstrate his love to Brian as well, so he comes up with a plan to send the first dog to Earth to show Brian his love. He instructs his creation to pave the way for future dogs by loving Brian: “Stay by his side. Let him lean on you. Help him walk with confidence.” In a moving, wordless illustrated montage, Brian meets the canine and they immediately bond. The dog teaches the boy two essential lessons: “to love without expecting anything in return [and] to forgive those who hurt him—then to forget the hurt and love them even more.” The book’s final lesson is simple: a dog’s love is an expression of God’s love. The only element out of place in this book is its notion that dogs have long existed in heaven, where they pursue games such as chasing cars and hiding bones—activities that only make sense on Earth. However, readers will likely overlook such non sequiturs, due to the lovely images and sentiments. Bright pastel illustrations grace the pages, including realistically joyous depictions of dogs. The overarching religious theme may narrow the audience, but the story will likely resonate with young readers regardless of their religious affiliations. Dog lovers, in particular, may tear up at the deeper message of a canine’s unconditional love.
An engaging picture book about humans’ best friends and companions.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-0989162401
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kendall Neff Publishing
Review Posted Online: Oct. 6, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The thoughtless words of childhood become the focus of the narrator's haunted memories of WW II. Helen recalls the events of her ninth birthday in occupied France in 1942. Lydia, her best friend, comes over to spend the night, and they amuse themselves by telling ghost stories. When a stranger wearing a yellow star like Lydia's comes looking for a place to hide, Lydia suddenly wants to go home. Helen is angry and shouts to the departing girl that she is not her friend anymore. The next day Lydia and her family have disappeared. The simple storyline brings together a complex combination of elements—ghost stories and fights between friends who suddenly find themselves in the context of war—all of which are penetrated by an equally complex narratorial voice, capable of differentiating among subtle shades of emotion. It belongs both to the old woman telling the story and to the nine-year-old girl she was. As a result of this layering of perspective, the characters and story have depth through minimal means (sketchy details, snatches of conversation). This is even more effective in the wondrous pictures. In her first book, Kang's palette contains only browns, grays, yellows, and redsmuted colors, forming the geometric interiors of barren apartments. If the individual colors and shapes in the pictures are simple, as a whole they create an intensely expressive atmosphere. (Picture book. 7-10)
Pub Date: May 8, 1995
ISBN: 0-8027-8373-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Walker
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1995
BOOK REVIEW
With a universal message of love and community, this book offers a beautiful representation of a too-often-overlooked...
From a debut author-and-illustrator team comes a glimpse into a young American Muslim girl’s family and community as she walks around in “Mommy’s khimar,” or headscarf.
The star of this sunny picture book is a young girl who finds joy in wearing her mother’s khimar, imagining it transforms her into a queen, a star, a mama bird, a superhero. At the core of the story is the love between the girl and her mother. The family appears to be African-American, with brown skin and textured hair. The girl’s braids and twists “form a bumpy crown” under the khimar, which smells of coconut oil and cocoa butter. Adults in her life delight in her appearance in the bright yellow khimar, including her Arabic teacher at the mosque, who calls it a “hijab,” and her grandmother, who visits after Sunday service and calls out “Sweet Jesus!” as she scoops her granddaughter into her arms. Her grandmother is, apparently, a Christian, but “We are a family and we love each other just the same.” The illustrations feature soft pastel colors with dynamic lines and gently patterned backgrounds that complement the story’s joyful tone. The words are often lyrical, and the story artfully includes many cultural details that will delight readers who share the cheerful protagonist’s culture and enlighten readers who don’t.
With a universal message of love and community, this book offers a beautiful representation of a too-often-overlooked cultural group . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 3, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5344-0059-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Salaam Reads/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018
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