A grown-up girl ingeniously solves a puzzle, winning something she deserves. The farmer has three grown children: brawny Franz, arms “as thick as branches,” beefy Hans, legs “as thick as tree trunks,” and Mary, “neither brawny nor beefy,” arms and legs “as slender as sticks.” Perplexed as to which son should run the farm when he dies—“because this was long, long ago… and everyone thought that girls couldn’t run farms”—the farmer gives each boy a penny and a challenge to “buy something that will fill the whole house.” After they fail, intelligent Mary insists on a penny too, purchasing a candle (which fills the house with light) and a penknife to whittle a reed into an instrument (which fills the house with music). Holland’s calm, playful mixed media feature stylized figures of pencil and collage on pale backgrounds. As Mary carves, golden reeds grow beside her, symbolizing her flourishing future farm; when she plays music indoors, a vertically lined yellow wall continues that theme. Gentle humor runs throughout, and everyone’s happy at the end. A sweet, artistic fable in the brains-over-brawn genre. (Picture book. 4-7)
Pub Date: July 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-7636-4768-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2010
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Pedestrian.
Mr. Brown can’t help with farm chores because his shoes are missing—a common occurrence in his household and likely in many readers’ as well.
Children will be delighted that the titular Mr. Brown is in fact a child. After Mr. Brown looks in his closet and sorts through his other family members’ shoes with no luck, his father and his siblings help him search the farm. Eventually—after colorful pages that enable readers to spot footwear hiding—the family gives up on their hunt, and Mr. Brown asks to be carried around for the chores. He rides on his father’s shoulders as Papa gets his work done, as seen on a double-page spread of vignettes. The resolution is more of a lesson for the adult readers than for children, a saccharine moment where father and son express their joy that the missing shoes gave them the opportunity for togetherness—with advice for other parents to appreciate those fleeting moments themselves. Though the art is bright and cheerful, taking advantage of the setting, it occasionally is misaligned with the text (for example, the text states that Mr. Brown is wearing his favorite green shirt while the illustration is of a shirt with wide stripes of white and teal blue, which could confuse readers at the point where they’re trying to figure out which family member is Mr. Brown). The family is light-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Pedestrian. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 14, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-5460-0389-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: WorthyKids/Ideals
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022
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