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LET'S GO TO THE HARDWARE STORE

Name: LET'S GO TO THE HARDWARE STORE
Author: Anne Rockwell
ISBN: 978-0-8050-8738-3

by Anne Rockwell ; illustrated by Melissa Iwai ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 22, 2016

Accessible for all, from the happy shopper to the tool-obsessed.

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Dad, daughter, and son head to the hardware store to find tools for home repair.

It’s a bigger house for this growing family of five (plus two cats and a dog), but their new home is in need of some fixing. So it’s off to the hardware store—a charming mom-and-pop shop full of colorful curiosities. There, brother and sister examine walls of hammers and screwdrivers, poke through bins of brads, and learn about levels. Their list complete, they arrive home only to realize an item is missing, and it’s back to the store they go. The artwork, done in a pastel-colored palette, is full of attractive little details, from the patterning on the tool displays to the labels on the window. Captioned spot illustrations depicting the differences among certain tools will delight readers both young and old. Like Taro Gomi, Iwai makes no attempt to light her artwork with shading. Still, objects distinguish themselves as she skillfully applies pattern and color. It’s an appealing environment that, while stylized, feels real as the mother sits on the floor breast-feeding, tools strewn around, reminding her husband of the forgotten item. Dad has white skin and sandy hair, while brother and sister share the dark hair and almond eyes of their mother.

Accessible for all, from the happy shopper to the tool-obsessed. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: March 22, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-8050-8738-3

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt

Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2015

Categories:

CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

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by Anne Rockwell ; illustrated by Lizzy Rockwell

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by Anne Rockwell ; illustrated by Lizzy Rockwell

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A SPY CALLED JAMES
by Anne Rockwell ; illustrated by Floyd Cooper

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CARPENTER'S HELPER

by Sybil Rosen ; illustrated by Camille Garoche ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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HOW TO CATCH A MAMASAURUS

From the How To Catch… series

by Alice Walstead ; illustrated by Andy Elkerton ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 5, 2024

A syrupy tribute to mothers that may please fans of the series.

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Another creature is on the loose.

The long-running series continues its successful formula with this Hallmark card of a book, which features bright illustrations and catchy rhymes. This time, the mythical creature the racially diverse children set out to catch is an absent mom who does it all (lists of descriptors include the words banker, caregiver, nurse, doctor, driver, chef, housekeeper, teacher, entertainer, playmate, laundry service, problem solver, handywoman, cleaner, and alarm clock) but doesn’t seem to have a job outside the home and is inexplicably a dinosaur. As the children prepare gifts and a meal for her, the text becomes an ode to the skills the Mamasaurus possesses (“Day or night she’s always there. / She meets every wish and need”) and values she instills (“Sometimes life can mean hard work,” “kindness matters,” and “what counts is doing your best”). This well-intentioned selection veers into cliche generously sprinkled with saccharine but manages to redeem itself with its appreciation for mothers and all that they may do. Endpapers include a “to” and “from” page framed in a heart, as well as a page where young gift givers or recipients can draw a picture of their Mamasaurus.