In a fond salute, Lewin (Red Legs, p. 588, etc.) introduces readers to his favorite Chinese take-out place. It is a mood piece, striving for ambience rather than story line, and it succeeds admirably. The narrator is a young Chinese boy who takes readers through a day in his family’s Chinese restaurant, beginning with his own tour of duty carrying in supplies. A slew of uncles staffs the kitchen, chopping vegetables and meats, prepping for the lunchtime onslaught. “Chop! Chop! Chop! Dice and slice. Trim and dice. Slice and shred. Faster. Faster.” Lewin’s watercolors work wonders with the tight but electric bustle of the men as they respond to the gathering mayhem of lunch orders. Filling the pages with activity, he leaves borders of space for the text, which reflects the varying colors of the food and interior lights when the pictures are inside and are in black when the ordinary outside world is the scene. Then there are the regulars (including the handsome illustrator), whose orders are shouted into the kitchen without them even having to open their mouths. All day, the little boy pitches in to help, folding menus, packing take-out bags, and passing along orders. In a wonderfully abrupt turn, Lewin closes the long day at the restaurant with the narrator enjoying his favorite food—a slice of pizza. Finally, Lewin himself prepares to eat his favorite dish and offers the recipe, except for the “special secret sauce.” Everyone loves take-out food. And everyone ought to love this, from its menu on the endpapers to the aromas that fairly rise off the page. Readers won’t just drink in its transporting atmosphere, but will soon be on their way to their nearest Chinese community to taste the very air as well as the food. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-688-16026-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2001
Tender and affirming.
A father and child bond while camping.
The two awaken in their tent on a chilly morning in the woods. The young narrator is cold, but Daddy says they’ll warm up as they start walking. As the pair hike past trees and over rocks, then bait their hooks and cast their lines, it becomes apparent that Daddy is retracing the path he and his late father, Pop-Pop, once took, re-creating the same moments of wonder and awe. The child ponders: “Are we looking under the same rocks? Weaving through the same trails? Resting beneath the same magnolia tree as we sit still, listen, and breathe?” The narrator becomes overwhelmed with emotion over the loss of Pop-Pop, but Daddy says that he feels the same way and lets the protagonist know that showing emotion is OK—a valuable lesson for young readers coping with grief. This potent, poetic story is complemented by Fisher’s art, which blends soft colors and is full of movement and captures the characters’ expressions. Fisher has a delicate touch, conveying the small pleasures of the great outdoors as well as the importance of giving oneself permission to sit with sadness. Daddy and the child are brown-skinned, while Pop-Pop, seen in flashback, is lighter-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Tender and affirming. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9780316055864
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
Celebrated collaborators deliver another thoughtful delight, revealing how “making marks” links us across time and space.
The light-skinned, redheaded narrator journeys alone as flight attendants supply snacks to diverse, interspecies passengers. The kid muses, “Sometimes they ask me, ‘Why are you always going to the farthest planet?’ ”The response comes after the traveler hurtles through the solar system, lands, and levitates up to the platform where a welcoming grandmother waits: “Because it’s worth it / to cross one universe / to explore another.” Indeed, child and grandmother enter an egg-shaped, clear-domed orb and fly over a teeming savanna and a towering waterfall before disembarking, donning headlamps, and entering a cave. Inside, the pair marvel at a human handprint and ancient paintings of animals including horses, bison, and horned rhinoceroses. Yockteng’s skilled, vigorously shaded pictures suggest references to images found in Lascaux and Chauvet Cave in France. As the holiday winds down, grandmother gives the protagonist some colored pencils that had belonged to grandfather generations back. (She appears to chuckle over a nude portrait of her younger self.) The pencils “were good for making marks on paper. She gave me that too.” The child draws during the return trip, documenting the visit and sights along the journey home. “Because what I could see was infinity.” (This book was reviewed digitally with 9.8-by-19.6-inch double-page spreads viewed at 85% of actual size.)
Celebrated collaborators deliver another thoughtful delight, revealing how “making marks” links us across time and space. (Picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: Oct. 27, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-77306-172-6
Page Count: 52
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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