Readers will find themselves wanting to hug a book after reading this story.
A lonely book experiences the joy of being loved by a child in this ode to libraries and reading.
Dusty is a library book with a singular problem: No one has read him, so he doesn’t know what he is even about. After the library closes for the evening, a delightful gaggle of books comes alive and schemes to help Dusty get noticed. Warm, dynamic colors throughout the library, soft moonlight, and anthropomorphic expressions on the books invite readers in with a quiet earnestness. Even when Dusty is finally picked up by a white child named Sophie, he is set on the table and forgotten as Sophie greets her friend Laila, who is black. Luckily, Sophie’s brother, Jake (also white), sits down at the table and discovers Dusty is a dinosaur book. A charming illustration on verso shows Jake surrounded by dinosaurs, a representation of how books can transport readers to dynamic places. Throughout, black text varies in size at times, and it is arranged thoughtfully to guide readers from verso to recto. Nameless characters in Jake’s home and in the library, including the librarian, have diverse skin tones but are all portrayed with similar body types. One nameless child in a wheelchair is also shown in ensemble.
Readers will find themselves wanting to hug a book after reading this story. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-61067-879-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kane Miller
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Desperation confused for hysterics.
Harris’ latest makes an urgent plea for somber reflection.
“Stop! Stop!! Stop!!!” Right from the get-go, readers are presented with three rules for reading this book (“Don’t look at this book!” “Do look at your listener!” “Get your listener to look at you!”). But the true lesson is in the title itself: If anyone listening to this book laughs, you have to start it all over. Challenge accepted? Good. Sheer frenetic energy propels what passes for a narrative as the book uses every trick up its sleeve to give kids the giggles. Silly names, ridiculous premises, and kooky art combine, all attempting some level of hilarity. Bloch’s art provides a visual cacophony of collaged elements, all jostling for the audience’s attention. Heavily influenced by similar fourth wall–busting titles like The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales (1992) by Jon Scieszka, illustrated by Lane Smith, and the more contemporary The Book With No Pictures (2014) by B.J. Novak, these attempts to win over readers and make them laugh will result in less giggles than one might imagine. In the end, the ultimate success of this book may rest less on the art or text and more on the strength of the reader’s presentation. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Desperation confused for hysterics. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-316-42488-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Pedestrian.
Mr. Brown can’t help with farm chores because his shoes are missing—a common occurrence in his household and likely in many readers’ as well.
Children will be delighted that the titular Mr. Brown is in fact a child. After Mr. Brown looks in his closet and sorts through his other family members’ shoes with no luck, his father and his siblings help him search the farm. Eventually—after colorful pages that enable readers to spot footwear hiding—the family gives up on their hunt, and Mr. Brown asks to be carried around for the chores. He rides on his father’s shoulders as Papa gets his work done, as seen on a double-page spread of vignettes. The resolution is more of a lesson for the adult readers than for children, a saccharine moment where father and son express their joy that the missing shoes gave them the opportunity for togetherness—with advice for other parents to appreciate those fleeting moments themselves. Though the art is bright and cheerful, taking advantage of the setting, it occasionally is misaligned with the text (for example, the text states that Mr. Brown is wearing his favorite green shirt while the illustration is of a shirt with wide stripes of white and teal blue, which could confuse readers at the point where they’re trying to figure out which family member is Mr. Brown). The family is light-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Pedestrian. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 14, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-5460-0389-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: WorthyKids/Ideals
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022
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