A sophisticated wordless book for perceptive children.
In this wordless tale, Lola and a great white wolf encounter a blue butterfly on a train ride.
Outside the train, a large red bird seems to guard Lola, a light-skinned protagonist of indeterminate age clad in a black dress and scarf. The bird accompanies Lola and the wolf when they leave the train and follow the butterfly. Three small, striped creatures with unusual twisted horns catch the butterfly and bring it to a tree, hung with many other cages holding red butterflies. The trio of friends arrive to see this sight, both beautiful and very sad, with its allusions to the loss of freedom and movement, and work to rescue the winged insect and inspire the horned creatures to release the others. Boiger employs pencil, colored pencil, and watercolor pencil to create a multitude of feathery, curvilinear, soft strokes that compose the various forest scenes, the animals (both real and imagined), and the human being, seen from different perspectives. This tale could invite multiple viewings, if only to struggle with its meaning. The story can be seen as an allegory about friendship, love, and liberty, but will young readers put the effort into understanding its subtle message? Perhaps with careful discussion with an adult reader, a child will enjoy the aesthetic pleasures of the book’s delicately textured illustrations and discern its significance. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A sophisticated wordless book for perceptive children. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Aug. 29, 2023
ISBN: 9780399165900
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2023
Inspiration, shrink wrapped.
From an artist, poet, and Instagram celebrity, a pep talk for all who question where a new road might lead.
Opening by asking readers, “Have you ever wanted to go in a different direction,” the unnamed narrator describes having such a feeling and then witnessing the appearance of a new road “almost as if it were magic.” “Where do you lead?” the narrator asks. The Road’s twice-iterated response—“Be a leader and find out”—bookends a dialogue in which a traveler’s anxieties are answered by platitudes. “What if I fall?” worries the narrator in a stylized, faux hand-lettered type Wade’s Instagram followers will recognize. The Road’s dialogue and the narration are set in a chunky, sans-serif type with no quotation marks, so the one flows into the other confusingly. “Everyone falls at some point, said the Road. / But I will always be there when you land.” Narrator: “What if the world around us is filled with hate?” Road: “Lead it to love.” Narrator: “What if I feel stuck?” Road: “Keep going.” De Moyencourt illustrates this colloquy with luminous scenes of a small, brown-skinned child, face turned away from viewers so all they see is a mop of blond curls. The child steps into an urban mural, walks along a winding country road through broad rural landscapes and scary woods, climbs a rugged metaphorical mountain, then comes to stand at last, Little Prince–like, on a tiny blue and green planet. Wade’s closing claim that her message isn’t meant just for children is likely superfluous…in fact, forget the just.
Inspiration, shrink wrapped. (Picture book. 6-8, adult)Pub Date: March 23, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-26949-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: April 7, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends
Gerald the elephant learns a truth familiar to every preschooler—heck, every human: “Waiting is not easy!”
When Piggie cartwheels up to Gerald announcing that she has a surprise for him, Gerald is less than pleased to learn that the “surprise is a surprise.” Gerald pumps Piggie for information (it’s big, it’s pretty, and they can share it), but Piggie holds fast on this basic principle: Gerald will have to wait. Gerald lets out an almighty “GROAN!” Variations on this basic exchange occur throughout the day; Gerald pleads, Piggie insists they must wait; Gerald groans. As the day turns to twilight (signaled by the backgrounds that darken from mauve to gray to charcoal), Gerald gets grumpy. “WE HAVE WASTED THE WHOLE DAY!…And for WHAT!?” Piggie then gestures up to the Milky Way, which an awed Gerald acknowledges “was worth the wait.” Willems relies even more than usual on the slightest of changes in posture, layout and typography, as two waiting figures can’t help but be pretty static. At one point, Piggie assumes the lotus position, infuriating Gerald. Most amusingly, Gerald’s elephantine groans assume weighty physicality in spread-filling speech bubbles that knock Piggie to the ground. And the spectacular, photo-collaged images of the Milky Way that dwarf the two friends makes it clear that it was indeed worth the wait.
A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends . (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4231-9957-1
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2014
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