A tale readers will easily get lost in.
A family trip gets off to an inauspicious start.
Mom, Grandpa, two unruly kids, and the family dog drive to the woods for a picnic and a hike. When they arrive, elder child Smudge, who narrates, runs off to climb a tree, ignoring Mom’s admonition to wait. The smart-alecky Smudge repeatedly responds to Mom’s requests with a defiant “I will NOT!” Good-humored Grandpa shares his outdoors knowledge—“Moss sometimes grows north”—wisdom that goes unheeded but will prove useful later. Smudge tunes out and runs off again as ever-harried Mom, struggling to control the dog, warns the child not to wander off. Does Smudge get lost? Yep—then the little one finally pays attention. Fortunately, the family soon finds Smudge. But now they’re all lost! Smudge is contrite: “Are we all lost because of me?” Grandpa reassures Smudge that it’s OK; everyone’s together. Happily, Grandpa’s earlier guideposts and the landmarks they passed help them correct their course. In the end, they’re able to appreciate a spectacular vista—together. This high-spirited story is notable for its portrayal of loving and very realistic family dynamics. The lively, impressionistic illustrations, created with watercolor ink and colored pencil, capture the family’s relationships and scenic outdoors. The family presents East Asian.
A tale readers will easily get lost in. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 20, 2024
ISBN: 9780316541176
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2024
This multigenerational snuggle will encourage the sharing of old memories and the creation of new ones.
Hill and Bobbiesi send a humungous hug from grandmothers to their granddaughters everywhere.
Delicate cartoon art adds details to the rhyming text showing multigenerational commonalities. “You and I are alike in such wonderful ways. / You will see more and more as you grow” (as grandmother and granddaughter enjoy the backyard together); “I wobbled uncertainly just as you did / whenever I tried something new” (as a toddler takes first steps); “And if a bad dream woke me up in the night, / I snuggled up with my lovey too” (grandmother kisses granddaughter, who clutches a plush narwhal). Grandmother-granddaughter pairs share everyday joys like eating ice cream, dancing “in the rain,” and making “up silly games.” Although some activities skew stereotypically feminine (baking, yoga), a grandmother helps with a quintessential volcano experiment (this pair presents black, adding valuable STEM representation), another cheers on a young wheelchair athlete (both present Asian), and a third, wearing a hijab, accompanies her brown-skinned granddaughter on a peace march, as it is “important to speak out for what you believe.” The message of unconditional love is clear throughout: “When you need me, I’ll be there to listen and care. / There is nothing that keeps us apart.” The finished book will include “stationery…for a special letter from Grandma to you!”
This multigenerational snuggle will encourage the sharing of old memories and the creation of new ones. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-7282-0623-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
A retro-futuristic romp, literally and figuratively screwy.
Robo-parents Diode and Lugnut present daughter Cathode with a new little brother—who requires, unfortunately, some assembly.
Arriving in pieces from some mechanistic version of Ikea, little Flange turns out to be a cute but complicated tyke who immediately falls apart…and then rockets uncontrollably about the room after an overconfident uncle tinkers with his basic design. As a squad of helpline techies and bevies of neighbors bearing sludge cake and like treats roll in, the cluttered and increasingly crowded scene deteriorates into madcap chaos—until at last Cath, with help from Roomba-like robodog Sprocket, stages an intervention by whisking the hapless new arrival off to a backyard workshop for a proper assembly and software update. “You’re such a good big sister!” warbles her frazzled mom. Wiesner’s robots display his characteristic clean lines and even hues but endearingly look like vaguely anthropomorphic piles of random jet-engine parts and old vacuum cleaners loosely connected by joints of armored cable. They roll hither and thither through neatly squared-off panels and pages in infectiously comical dismay. Even the end’s domestic tranquility lasts only until Cathode spots the little box buried in the bigger one’s packing material: “TWINS!” (This book was reviewed digitally with 9-by-22-inch double-page spreads viewed at 52% of actual size.)
A retro-futuristic romp, literally and figuratively screwy. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-544-98731-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: June 2, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2020
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