Words and pictures really worth sharing.
A reflection on the power of words.
Flying in the face of the old adage “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me,” the text acknowledges the harm that hateful, cruel words can cause. It also affirms the power of kind and loving words to heal and uplift. These messages aren’t delivered in a story but in clear, rhymed verses. Accompanying illustrations are boldly colored with sketchy depictions of people interacting with each other in positive and negative scenarios, using a style that is somewhat reminiscent of Ed Emberley’s or Oliver Jeffers’ picture-book illustrations. While the book focuses on the power of language, art paradoxically does much of the heavy lifting when it comes to communicating the emotions of a scene. In what some may regard as a narrative misstep, a key spread highlights the potential for words to help or harm a plant’s growth, perhaps distracting from the centrality of humans to this book’s aims. Nevertheless, this will be an eminently useful title for sparking conversations with children about how positive self-talk can transform one’s perspective and how kind words can empower others. It will also invite reflections on the need for sensitivity and kindness in communicating with others. Characters vary in skin tone (most are depicted in intense blues, reds, or yellows, like the rest of the art) and ability. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Words and pictures really worth sharing. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5362-1980-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2022
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute.
Readers bid farewell to a beloved canine character.
Momo is—or was—an adorable and very photogenic border collie owned by author Knapp. The many readers who loved him in the previous half-dozen books are in for a shock with this one. “Momo had died” is the stark reality—and there are no photographs of him here. Instead, Momo has been replaced by a flat cartoonish pastiche with strange, staring round white eyes, inserted into some of Knapp’s photography (which remains appealing, insofar as it can be discerned under the mixed media). Previous books contained few or no words. Unfortunately, virtuosity behind a lens does not guarantee mastery of verse. The art here is accompanied by words that sometimes rhyme but never find a workable or predictable rhythm (“We’d fetch and we’d catch, / we’d run and we’d jump. Every day we found new / games to play”). It’s a pity, because the subject—a pet’s death—is an important one to address with children. Of course, Momo isn’t gone; he can still be found “everywhere” in memories. But alas, he can be found here only in the crude depictions of the darling dog so well known from the earlier books.
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781683693864
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Quirk Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet and endearing feathered migration.
A relationship between a Latina grandmother and her mixed-race granddaughter serves as the frame to depict the ruby-throated hummingbird migration pattern.
In Granny’s lap, a girl is encouraged to “keep still” as the intergenerational pair awaits the ruby-throated hummingbirds with bowls of water in their hands. But like the granddaughter, the tz’unun—“the word for hummingbird in several [Latin American] languages”—must soon fly north. Over the next several double-page spreads, readers follow the ruby-throated hummingbird’s migration pattern from Central America and Mexico through the United States all the way to Canada. Davies metaphorically reunites the granddaughter and grandmother when “a visitor from Granny’s garden” crosses paths with the girl in New York City. Ray provides delicately hashed lines in the illustrations that bring the hummingbirds’ erratic flight pattern to life as they travel north. The watercolor palette is injected with vibrancy by the addition of gold ink, mirroring the hummingbirds’ flashing feathers in the slants of light. The story is supplemented by notes on different pages with facts about the birds such as their nest size, diet, and flight schedule. In addition, a note about ruby-throated hummingbirds supplies readers with detailed information on how ornithologists study and keep track of these birds.
A sweet and endearing feathered migration. (bibliography, index) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: May 7, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5362-0538-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
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