A heartwarming read.
It’s playtime with papa.
“My papa is a lot of things…” says the young narrator at the start of this short picture book. As the pages turn, the titular papa is proclaimed to be a hair stylist, an astronaut, a master chef, a firefighter, and more. With each assertion, this child’s papa appears in a literal interpretation (wearing a red helmet and behind the wheel of a red race car, helmeted child riding shotgun) and then in what readers will see is the real-life situation (on his belly on the floor next to his child playing with toy cars and earnestly making “vroom” noises). This celebration of everything a father can be is illustrated with warm, rounded figures boasting deep hues that make for a comfy read. The compositions have an immediacy to them that draws readers in, close into the action. Scenarios vary from double-page spreads with imagined scenes on versos and real-life on rectos and pairs of double-page spreads, a rhythm that maintains a nice pace. The spread alluded to in the title presents two tiara-clad playmates, the dad sweetly unself-conscious in a blue ball gown, with child in pink. Both characters present white, dad with glasses and brown hair and beard; his child has hair cut in a blond pageboy and frequently wears a dress. Of course, the best thing about papa is that he is “My papa!”
A heartwarming read. (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-93666-970-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: blue manatee press
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
It’s nothing new, but it’s also clearly heartfelt.
A love song from parents to their child.
This title will seem quite similar to the many others about parents’ deep love for their children. The text is wholly composed of first-person declarations of parental love, and it’s juxtaposed with illustrations of the child with one or both parents. It’s not always clear who the “I” speaking is, and there are a few pages that instead use “we.” Most sentences begin with “I love you more” phrasing to communicate that nothing could undermine parental love: “I love you more than all the sleepless nights…and all the early, tired mornings.” The accompanying pictures depict the child as a baby with weary parents. Later spreads show the child growing up, and the phrasing shifts away from the challenges of parenting to its joys and to attempts to quantify love: “I love you more than all the blades of grass at the park…and all the soccer that we played.” Throughout, Bell’s illustrations use pastel tones and soft visual texture to depict cozy, wholesome scenes that are largely redundant of the straightforward, warm text. They feature a brown-haired family with a mother, father, and child, who all appear to be white (though the father has skin that’s a shade darker than the others’).
It’s nothing new, but it’s also clearly heartfelt. (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: Aug. 14, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0652-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
A good choice for caregivers looking for a positive, uncomplicated introduction to a new baby that focuses on everything an...
A little boy exults in his new role as big brother.
Rhyming text describes the arrival of a new baby and all of the big brother’s rewarding new duties. He gets to help with feedings, diaper changes, playtime, bathtime, and naptime. Though the rhyming couplets can sometimes feel a bit forced and awkward, the sentiment is sweet, as the focus here never veers from the excitement and love a little boy feels for his tiny new sibling. The charming, uncluttered illustrations convincingly depict the growing bond between this fair-skinned, rosy-cheeked, smiling pair of boys. In the final pages, the parents, heretofore kept mostly out of view, are pictured holding the children. The accompanying text reads: “Mommy, Daddy, baby, me. / We love each other—a family!” In companion volume I Am a Big Sister, the little boy is replaced with a little girl with bows in her hair. Some of the colors and patterns in the illustrations are slightly altered, but it is essentially the same title.
A good choice for caregivers looking for a positive, uncomplicated introduction to a new baby that focuses on everything an older sibling can do to help. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Jan. 27, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-545-68886-4
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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