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EMILY'S BLUE PERIOD

Name: EMILY'S BLUE PERIOD
Author: Cathleen Daly
ISBN: 978-1-59643-469-1

by Cathleen Daly ; illustrated by Lisa Brown ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 17, 2014

A worthwhile, idiosyncratic demonstration of a specific artist’s relevance to a young child.

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A girl adjusts to her parents’ divorce with the help of Pablo Picasso’s artwork.

In school, Emily’s learning how Picasso’s cubist portrayals “mix things up,” scooting a nose sideways or stacking eyes over eyes. This notion touches her, as her family feels mixed up too: “Emily’s dad is no longer where he belongs. Suddenly, he lives in his own little cube.” An aerial map shows Emily’s gridlike neighborhood, her father’s new building—pale blue—two blocks from the family house. At a furniture store, Emily sees the furniture as blue and blue-green cubes and refuses to help Dad choose any. She won’t use black charcoal; like Picasso when he was sad, she hews to blue. Despite cuddles from Mom, “Emily’s Blue Period lasts quite some time.” A school assignment chafes: How can she make a collage of her house when she has two? Gathering objects from both, she figures it out, but textual pacing frustrates somewhat: Her completed “big and soggy and beautiful” chef-d’oeuvre is described in words for eight pages before it’s shown, implying that her piece’s concept outweighs its artistic value rather than complementing it. However, Brown’s soothing, blue-focused watercolors with pencil lines and digitally collaged highlights provide an accessible visual link to Picasso. One out-of-place joke about Picasso’s full Spanish name rankles.

A worthwhile, idiosyncratic demonstration of a specific artist’s relevance to a young child. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: June 17, 2014

ISBN: 978-1-59643-469-1

Page Count: 58

Publisher: Neal Porter/Roaring Brook

Review Posted Online: April 8, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2014

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

- BOOK REVIEW
PRUDENCE WANTS A PET
by Cathleen Daly & illustrated by Stephen Michael King

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FLIRT CLUB
by Cathleen Daly

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: June 21, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

- BOOK REVIEW
FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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IT'S NOT EASY BEING A GHOST

From the It's Not Easy Being series

by Marilyn Sadler ; illustrated by Stephanie Laberis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 13, 2024

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.

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A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.

Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)