Parents and children will seek out some side-by-side time after sharing this.
Raschka celebrates the many roles fathers and children take on when they spend time together.
The tall, skinny trim size and largely white background emphasize the relationship between father and child that fills each spread, leaving little room for the sparse text, mostly just one to three words per page. “Horse / and rider” opens the book, showing a child with long braids astride a man who’s down on his hands and knees. The next page shows the same pair, “Queen / and jester,” as they pose, she in a crown, he clowning for her. The third contains the book’s refrain, “Side by side,” and shows the two, hand in hand, flying kites. This pattern repeats with other parent-child pairs of diverse skin tones and hair textures (though most pairs have similar features and coloring). One pair swaps roles as teacher and learner (as they fish and then jump rope); some engage in activities together—pretend play, chess—and others separately (“base / and explorer”). Raschka’s trademark illustrative style is in evidence in his brushy watercolors. Readers will have no doubt as to the emotions of the characters, and they are sure to find both mirrors of their own play as well as ideas for new ways to interact with their grown-ups.
Parents and children will seek out some side-by-side time after sharing this. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 11, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-7148-7866-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Phaidon
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2019
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
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
A syrupy tribute to mothers that may please fans of the series.
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.
A syrupy tribute to mothers that may please fans of the series. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781728274300
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2024
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