A celebration of winter and competition that will likely appeal to children who’ve dreamed of Olympic glory—or of a big,...
Lapid’s debut picture book puts a wintry spin on an eternal, favorite childhood dream: Olympic glory.
Snowman Paul wants to try out for the Winter Olympics, but his human friend Dan says that he’s too old. Paul boards a bus and heads to the Winter Olympics anyway. “What could I do?” Dan asks as he tags along to watch his “swell-headed-pile-of-snow” pal compete. The story flows in simple verse and intuitive rhymes: “I knew my Paul was very clever, / Perhaps the smartest snowman ever.” The dynamic, full-spread illustrations of Paul’s winter sporting events and the pacing of the story will grab and keep young children’s attention. The illustrations are more than just pretty pictures: the subtle shades of blue and gray in the snow droplets make the action scenes look lifelike and energetic, as if the snow is spilling across the pages. They complement the story, sweeping readers along as Paul seeks his Olympic dream. One single sentence is broken across eight pages of Olympic action: “Curling, / Snowboard, / The luge-run, / Guess who, each time, was / Number One?” To Dan’s surprise, Paul stacks up gold medals like Michael Phelps. But this is no simple follow-your-dreams book—the mood is triumphant only until Dan suspects Paul might be cheating. At first Paul sulks and pouts. “ ‘No way,’ snapped Paul. ‘That isn’t true!’ ” At last, he and Dan look for a way to make things right. Instead of an overdone morality lesson, this tale gently criticizes the extreme culture of winning and cheating, as well as temperamental professional athletes. Unfortunately, even though the story is set at the Olympics, the premier intercultural sporting event in the world, it doesn’t include an illustration of a single person who’s clearly from another country, and almost every person in the book appears to be white. As a result, the book misses the chance to add some genuine diversity.
A celebration of winter and competition that will likely appeal to children who’ve dreamed of Olympic glory—or of a big, friendly snowman coming to life.Pub Date: Oct. 25, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-9973899-2-0
Page Count: 46
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Nov. 7, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
What if the market was closed when you wanted to bake a pie? You could embark for Europe, learn Italian en route, and pick up some semolina wheat in Italy, an egg in France, kurundu bark for cinnamon in Sri Lanka, and an entire cow in England (butter) before coming home via Jamaica (sugar) and Vermont (apples). The expertly designed illustrations in which a dark-haired lass journeys by various means to these interesting places to get her groceries are lovely and lively, and the narrative, too, travels at a spritely pace. The journey is neither quite logical enough to be truly informative nor quite bizarre enough to be satisfyingly silly, while the rich, sweet recipe that's appended will take some adult assistance. Still, fun. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: May 2, 1994
ISBN: 0-679-83705-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1994
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
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