A fanciful tale that’s likely to delight young readers.
Kanter and St. Amour’s picture book presents a modern-day fable of money and greed.
Armando and his wife, Elisa, have four children and live a comfortable life on the estate of wealthy Giuliano Cantore. Elisa is “endowed with fanciful ideas—but also a pragmatist.” Armando, meanwhile, “wished to buy Giuliano’s estate someday,” and keeps his life savings of gold coins in a small wine barrel. Early on, the narrator introduces readers to “Puttifurbi”—beings who mysteriously and mischievously move people’s possessions around. One day, Armando awakens to happily discover that “eleven gold coins tumbled from his tousled hair and onto the wood-planked floor.” This apparent “gift from the angels” continues nightly, but Elisa believes it’s a Puttifurbi prank. The authors weave a rich, traditional fable, frequently addressing “Dear reader” and offering reminders about “olden times.” Textual imagery will help young readers see the story in their mind’s eye: “the cold winter sun hung low like a pink jewel on the horizon.” It’s a clever tale with lessons about envy and avarice mingled with humor, with an ending that includes a major real-life historical figure. Secondary characters, such as Elise’s grandmother, Lucia, and Armando’s brother, Marco, are also entertaining. Philtjens’ illustrations complement the text well with their whimsical style and rich, warm colors.
A fanciful tale that’s likely to delight young readers.Pub Date: May 14, 2023
ISBN: 9798986446141
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Pactum Factum Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
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