Peaceful and reverent, this is a book for all families to share as they cuddle closely together.
Human, animal, and plant babies are all connected to the world that exists under the glowing moon each night.
In this warm bedtime story, a brown-skinned baby is born to a tan-skinned mother and a brown-skinned father who already have an older brown-skinned child with curly hair. The poetic text reminds children that the moon is always there, watching over the world and all its inhabitants. “When your mama was a baby, when your daddy was a baby, when your pet cricket was a baby—the moon remembers.” The artwork shows little ones snuggling with, reaching for, and playing with the smiling moon. The moon has been there forever, even welcoming the dinosaurs, and now it welcomes everything from little tomatoes to bunnies, owlets to infants, as it once greeted their parents. Speaking directly to children, the words are soothing and sweet. The soft multimedia illustrations, incorporating monoprint, gouache, watercolor, and collage, appropriately focus on night scenes, with an especially beautiful double-page spread at the end bringing together flora, fauna, and the human family (who are barely discernable), with a moonlit river flowing through the landscape. The endpapers show the phases of the moon, which may spark curiosity to learn about this phenomenon. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Peaceful and reverent, this is a book for all families to share as they cuddle closely together. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: May 9, 2023
ISBN: 9780358682325
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 7, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A heartwarming story about facing fears and acceptance.
A boy with wings learns to be himself and inspires others like him to soar, too.
Norman, a “perfectly normal” boy, never dreamed he might grow wings. Afraid of what his parents might say, he hides his new wings under a big, stuffy coat. Although the coat hides his wings from the world, Norman no longer finds joy in bathtime, playing at the park, swimming, or birthday parties. With the gentle encouragement of his parents, who see his sadness, Norman finds the courage to come out of hiding and soar. Percival (The Magic Looking Glass, 2017, etc.) depicts Norman with light skin and dark hair. Black-and-white illustrations show his father with dark skin and hair and his mother as white. The contrast of black-and-white illustrations with splashes of bright color complements the story’s theme. While Norman tries to be “normal,” the world and people around him look black and gray, but his coat stands out in yellow. Birds pop from the page in pink, green, and blue, emphasizing the joy and beauty of flying free. The final spread, full of bright color and multiracial children in flight, sets the mood for Norman’s realization on the last page that there is “no such thing as perfectly normal,” but he can be “perfectly Norman.”
A heartwarming story about facing fears and acceptance. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: May 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-68119-785-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
The combination of lovingly humorous and detailed mixed-media illustrations and infectious rhymes will cause little ones and...
More than skin deep, this rhyming paean to diversity offers readers an array of families of all colors and orientations, living and loving one another in a vibrant city setting.
A giggling baby is tummy-tickled by her white and black mothers (or white mother and black father—impressively, the illustration leaves room for interpretation) in New York’s Central Park in its summertime glory. "This is how we all begin: / small and happy in our skin." This celebration of skin not only extols the beauty and value of various skin colors, but also teaches the importance of skin as an essential body part: “It keeps the outsides out / and your insides in.” Park, public-pool, and block-party scenes allow readers to luxuriate in a teeming city where children of all colors, abilities, and religions enjoy their families and neighbors. The author and illustrator do not simply take a rote, tokenistic approach to answering the cry for diverse books; the words and pictures depict a much-needed, realistic representation of the statement “it takes a village to raise a child” when a child skins her knee and many rush to her aid and comfort. Though her palette of browns is a little limited, Tobia creates sheer joy with her depictions of everything from unibrows, dimples, and birthmarks to callouts to recognizable literary characters.
The combination of lovingly humorous and detailed mixed-media illustrations and infectious rhymes will cause little ones and their families to pore over this book again and again. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-7002-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 11, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2015
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