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LITTLE BOY WHO LIVED DOWN THE DRAIN

Name: LITTLE BOY WHO LIVED DOWN THE DRAIN
Author: Carolyn Huizinga Mills
ISBN: 978-1-55455-395-2

by Carolyn Huizinga Mills ; illustrated by Brooke Kerrigan ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2017

A playful spin on the new-baby theme.

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A misheard nursery rhyme gives rise to an imaginary friend who helps a little girl overcome loneliness.

Sally, whom watercolor-and-pencil illustrations depict as a white girl with light skin and sandy-brown hair, thinks her mother ends the “Baa Baa Black Sheep” rhyme she sings to her baby brother with a line about “the little boy… / Who lives down the DRAIN.” This inspires her to try to talk with the unseen, pipe-dwelling boy when taking a bath. She voices feelings of sadness and isolation about being too little to join her big sisters in their play, as well as jealousy for her busy parents’ attention. Although she’s comforted by this imagined audience, she wishes she could hear the little boy respond. “I know you’re probably trying, but you need to try something different!” she cries, and the resulting echo inspires her to try something different to change the dynamic with her family. Her efforts ultimately meet with success, not only because her family members respond positively, but because her perspective changes as she realizes, for example, “that much like her favourite toys, she had to share her parents, too.” A twist ending returns readers to the nursery rhyme that opened the story, and this time Sally hears about “the little boy who lives down the LANE,” whom she imagines anew.

A playful spin on the new-baby theme. (Picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-55455-395-2

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Fitzhenry & Whiteside

Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2017

Categories:

CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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THERE'S A ROCK CONCERT IN MY BEDROOM

by Kevin Jonas & Danielle Jonas ; illustrated by Courtney Dawson ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 29, 2022

Nice enough but not worth repeat reads.

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Emma deals with jitters before playing the guitar in the school talent show.

Pop musician Kevin Jonas and his wife, Danielle, put performance at the center of their picture-book debut. When Emma is intimidated by her very talented friends, the encouragement of her younger sister, Bella, and the support of her family help her to shine her own light. The story is straightforward and the moral familiar: Draw strength from your family and within to overcome your fears. Employing the performance-anxiety trope that’s been written many times over, the book plods along predictably—there’s nothing really new or surprising here. Dawson’s full-color digital illustrations center a White-presenting family along with Emma’s three friends of color: Jamila has tanned skin and wears a hijab; Wendy has dark brown skin and Afro puffs; and Luis has medium brown skin. Emma’s expressive eyes and face are the real draw of the artwork—from worry to embarrassment to joy, it’s clear what she’s feeling. A standout double-page spread depicts Emma’s talent show performance, with a rainbow swirl of music erupting from an amp and Emma rocking a glam outfit and electric guitar. Overall, the book reads pretty plainly, buoyed largely by the artwork. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Nice enough but not worth repeat reads. (Picture book. 4-6)

Pub Date: March 29, 2022

ISBN: 978-0-593-35207-6

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin

Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022

Categories:

CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS

- BOOK REVIEW
THERE'S A BEACH IN MY BEDROOM
by Kevin Jonas & Danielle Jonas ; illustrated by Courtney Dawson

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YOUR BABY'S FIRST WORD WILL BE DADA

by Jimmy Fallon ; illustrated by Miguel Ordóñez ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 9, 2015

Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it.

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A succession of animal dads do their best to teach their young to say “Dada” in this picture-book vehicle for Fallon.

A grumpy bull says, “DADA!”; his calf moos back. A sad-looking ram insists, “DADA!”; his lamb baas back. A duck, a bee, a dog, a rabbit, a cat, a mouse, a donkey, a pig, a frog, a rooster, and a horse all fail similarly, spread by spread. A final two-spread sequence finds all of the animals arrayed across the pages, dads on the verso and children on the recto. All the text prior to this point has been either iterations of “Dada” or animal sounds in dialogue bubbles; here, narrative text states, “Now everybody get in line, let’s say it together one more time….” Upon the turn of the page, the animal dads gaze round-eyed as their young across the gutter all cry, “DADA!” (except the duckling, who says, “quack”). Ordóñez's illustrations have a bland, digital look, compositions hardly varying with the characters, although the pastel-colored backgrounds change. The punch line fails from a design standpoint, as the sudden, single-bubble chorus of “DADA” appears to be emanating from background features rather than the baby animals’ mouths (only some of which, on close inspection, appear to be open). It also fails to be funny.

Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it. (Picture book. 3-5)