by Wiley Blevins ; illustrated by Mattia Cerato ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2014
Pleasant and reassuring.
Dad’s new job means moving to the city, a tough adjustment for little Keesha.
“I got the job,” Dad says. “We’re moving to the city!” Mom says. “I’m not moving,” Keesha says. And so it goes, all through packing, loading up the car and driving past the farm and lake and woods she loves on the way to the big sunny apartment the three of them will now call home. Dad lets her paint the walls of her new room any way she’d like. Keesha chooses trees and a lake and a horse, but “It’s still not home,” she says. Dad takes her for a walk; there’s a park not far from their apartment, with a small zoo within. Mom tells her to put on her dance clothes. They check out a handful of classes that look interesting, though nobody wears a pink tutu like Keesha. She’s also negative about her new school, until she finds out that she gets her own computer, sees a classmate wearing a shirt with a horse on it, and starts dancing with the others. Sold! Blevins refreshingly defies stereotypes with a heroine who happens to be African-American moving from the affluent ’burbs to the alien city. Cerrato employs a spectrum of colors to good effect. Her shapes and big-eyed, big-headed people have a Lego vibe.
Pleasant and reassuring. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-939656-08-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Red Chair Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 24, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2014
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by Paul Schmid ; illustrated by Paul Schmid ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 2014
Still, this young boy’s imagination is a powerful force for helping him deal with life, something that should be true for...
Oliver, of first-day-of-school alligator fame, is back, imagining adventures and still struggling to find balance between introversion and extroversion.
“When Oliver found his egg…” on the playground, mint-green backgrounds signifying Oliver’s flight into fancy slowly grow larger until they take up entire spreads; Oliver’s creature, white and dinosaurlike with orange polka dots, grows larger with them. Their adventures include sharing treats, sailing the seas and going into outer space. A classmate’s yell brings him back to reality, where readers see him sitting on top of a rock. Even considering Schmid’s scribbly style, readers can almost see the wheels turning in his head as he ponders the girl and whether or not to give up his solitary play. “But when Oliver found his rock… // Oliver imagined many adventures // with all his friends!” This last is on a double gatefold that opens to show the children enjoying the creature’s slippery curves. A final wordless spread depicts all the children sitting on rocks, expressions gleeful, wondering, waiting, hopeful. The illustrations, done in pastel pencil and digital color, again make masterful use of white space and page turns, although this tale is not nearly as funny or tongue-in-cheek as Oliver and His Alligator (2013), nor is its message as clear and immediately accessible to children.
Still, this young boy’s imagination is a powerful force for helping him deal with life, something that should be true for all children but sadly isn’t. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: July 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4231-7573-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2014
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by Adam Rex ; illustrated by Claire Keane ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2019
A funny David-versus-Goliath story with a one-word question serving as the slingshot. (Picture book. 3-5)
Doctor X-Ray, a megalomaniac with an X-ray blaster and an indestructible battle suit, crashes through the ceiling of the local mall.
Innocent patrons scatter to safety. But one curious child gazes directly at the bully and asks: “Why?” At first, Doctor X-Ray answers with all the menace and swagger of a supervillain. The curious child, armed with only a stuffed bear and clad in a bright red dress, is not satisfied with the answers and continues asking: “Why?” As his pale cheeks flush with emotion, Doctor X-Ray peels back the onion of his interior life, unearthing powerful reasons behind his pursuit of tyranny. This all sounds heavy, but the humorously monotonous questions coupled with free-wheeling illustrations by Keane set a quick pace with comical results. At 60 pages, the book has room to follow this thread back to the diabolical bully’s childhood. Most of the answers go beyond a child’s understanding—parental entertainment between the howl of the monosyllabic chorus. It is the digital artwork, which is reminiscent of Quentin Blake’s, that creates a joyful undercurrent of rebellion with bold and loose brush strokes, patches of color, and expressive faces. The illustrations harken to a previous era save for the thoroughly liberated Asian child speaking truth to power.
A funny David-versus-Goliath story with a one-word question serving as the slingshot. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4521-6863-0
Page Count: 60
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
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