An animal tale with pleasant visuals and heartfelt encouragement for children to follow their dreams.
In this debut picture book, an elephant refuses to let the opinions of others discourage her passion for creating art.
Inspired by Ruby, the real-life Phoenix Zoo elephant who painted abstract artworks after being supplied with materials, Hart reframes the story with a message for children: Believe in yourself. This tale’s Ruby knows what she wants to do—create art—and she won’t be limited by the expectations of others. Snooty passersby (a hawk, a snake, and a gazelle) tell her: “Elephants are not artists.” Ruby remains unfazed. And although the message would have had added resonance if the author had allowed Ruby to overcome a moment of self-doubt, she represents a model of unshakeable self-confidence and resistance to peer pressure. The text—a clear black font for the narrative, with lighter, idiosyncratic fonts identifying each speaker in the story—is set against artist Law’s cartoon-style, digital illustrations in serviceable outdoor settings (greens, browns, and blues predominate). While the diverse humans are awkwardly rendered, the gazelle adds an unexpected dash of visual drama, and Ruby is endearingly expressive. Ruby’s only wish: to create her designs in color and “share the beauty she sees with everyone.” Thanks to a kindly human zookeeper, Ruby is given the wherewithal to do just that. The author earnestly underscores the little elephant’s happiness by urging kids to think about and pursue, “like Ruby,” what they “love to do.”
An animal tale with pleasant visuals and heartfelt encouragement for children to follow their dreams.Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-958302-08-8
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Lawley Enterprises LLC
Review Posted Online: Oct. 3, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
Safe to creep on by.
Carle’s famous caterpillar expresses its love.
In three sentences that stretch out over most of the book’s 32 pages, the (here, at least) not-so-ravenous larva first describes the object of its love, then describes how that loved one makes it feel before concluding, “That’s why… / I[heart]U.” There is little original in either visual or textual content, much of it mined from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. “You are… / …so sweet,” proclaims the caterpillar as it crawls through the hole it’s munched in a strawberry; “…the cherry on my cake,” it says as it perches on the familiar square of chocolate cake; “…the apple of my eye,” it announces as it emerges from an apple. Images familiar from other works join the smiling sun that shone down on the caterpillar as it delivers assurances that “you make… / …the sun shine brighter / …the stars sparkle,” and so on. The book is small, only 7 inches high and 5 ¾ inches across when closed—probably not coincidentally about the size of a greeting card. While generations of children have grown up with the ravenous caterpillar, this collection of Carle imagery and platitudinous sentiment has little of his classic’s charm. The melding of Carle’s caterpillar with Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE on the book’s cover, alas, draws further attention to its derivative nature.
Safe to creep on by. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-448-48932-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2021
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