A low-key tale of magic and friendship.
A fairy struggling to fly finds friendship with a kindhearted girl.
More than anything, Lily wants to soar “with the birds and the butterflies high above the treetops.” Lily’s well acquainted with “the beauty closer to the ground,” but each time she attempts to fly, she tumbles to the ground. Her discouragement is palpable. When she finds a quaint fairy house in the woods, she marvels at the chair made of twigs and the lovely lanterns. She soon learns that the house was made by a gentle young girl named Willow. Willow patiently supports Lily, bringing her a fairy-size trampoline and a tiny helmet. Lily still finds flying a challenge, but she’s bolstered by Willow’s presence. The illustrations portray a ballerinalike Lily, her curly hair in a bun, while Willow has a friendly and welcoming face. Filled with large-eyed characters, butterflies, glittery trails, and sun flares, the images feel almost like stills from an animated video. While Lily is the lead character in this story, in her author’s note, Jackson describes the bond with the human girl as the focus and adds that the story reflects her own sense of wonder at the natural world. The plotline is somewhat quiet—a quality that children must cultivate if they hope to entice fairies of their own—while the messages of compassion and helping others achieve their dreams come through strongly. Willow and Lily are Black.
A low-key tale of magic and friendship. (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781665941174
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2024
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it.
What happens when a robot washes up alone on an island?
“Everything was just right on the island.” Brown beautifully re-creates the first days of Roz, the protagonist of his Wild Robot novels, as she adapts to living in the natural world. A storm-tossed ship, seen in the opening just before the title page, and a packing crate are the only other human-made objects to appear in this close-up look at the robot and her new home. Roz emerges from the crate, and her first thought as she sets off up a grassy hill—”This must be where I belong”—is sweetly glorious, a note of recognition rather than conquest. Roz learns to move, hide, and communicate like the creatures she meets. When she discovers an orphaned egg—and the gosling Brightbill, who eventually hatches—her decision to be his mother seems a natural extension of her adaptation. Once he flies south for the winter, her quiet wait across seasons for his return is a poignant portrayal of separation and change. Brown’s clean, precise lines and deep, light-filled colors offer a sense of what Roz might be seeing, suggesting a place that is alive yet deeply serene and radiant. Though the book stands alone, it adds an immensely appealing dimension to Roz’s world. Round thumbnails offer charming peeks into the island world, depicting Roz’s animal neighbors and Brightbill’s maturation.
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it. (author’s note) (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: June 24, 2025
ISBN: 9780316669467
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
A wandering effort, happy but pointless.
The perfect book for kids who love dragons and mild tacos.
Rubin’s story starts with an incantatory edge: “Hey, kid! Did you know that dragons love tacos? They love beef tacos and chicken tacos. They love really big gigantic tacos and tiny little baby tacos as well.” The playing field is set: dragons, tacos. As a pairing, they are fairly silly, and when the kicker comes in—that dragons hate spicy salsa, which ignites their inner fireworks—the silliness is sillier still. Second nature, after all, is for dragons to blow flames out their noses. So when the kid throws a taco party for the dragons, it seems a weak device that the clearly labeled “totally mild” salsa comes with spicy jalapenos in the fine print, prompting the dragons to burn down the house, resulting in a barn-raising at which more tacos are served. Harmless, but if there is a parable hidden in the dragon-taco tale, it is hidden in the unlit deep, and as a measure of lunacy, bridled or unbridled, it doesn’t make the leap into the outer reaches of imagination. Salmieri’s artwork is fitting, with a crabbed, ethereal line work reminiscent of Peter Sís, but the story does not offer it enough range.
A wandering effort, happy but pointless. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 14, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3680-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
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