With illustrations that suggest a sunny memory, Felicia's story shows the ways that she's part of a continuing cycle, rather...
A young Latina girl has an unexpected encounter while accompanying her mother to work in this bilingual picture book touching on the immigrant experience.
When Felicia arrives by bus with her mother to her housekeeping job at a beautiful gated house with a fountain in front, she's told to behave. Felicia works with her coloring book, but she's restless. "I don't really like the headscarf, nor do I really like being here. / No me gusta el pañuelo que lleva en la cabeza, tampoco me gusta mucho estar aquí," she says. Felicia begins exploring the house, finding a nursery and a set of swings. Rather than get in trouble, Felicia is joined by the homeowner, a white woman who brings lemonade and cookies. Mrs. Fitzpatrick shares with Felicia the story of her own family's journey from Ireland for a better life. "That's what your mom wants for you too. / Eso es lo que tu mamá quere para ti," she tells Felicia. She gives Felicia a bracelet; its charms appear throughout the book, separating and symbolically tying in to the English and Spanish texts. With a deft and subtle touch, author Barbieri, the daughter of Salvadoran and Nicaraguan parents, captures a small but resonant moment. The reaction of Felicia's mother, for example, rings true. She's guarded about the gift at first, an open-ended response that encourages readers to wonder why.
With illustrations that suggest a sunny memory, Felicia's story shows the ways that she's part of a continuing cycle, rather than an outsider, and does it without belaboring the point . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: May 31, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-55885-827-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Piñata Books/Arte Público
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2016
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions.
Ellis, known for her illustrations for Colin Meloy’s Wildwood series, here riffs on the concept of “home.”
Shifting among homes mundane and speculative, contemporary and not, Ellis begins and ends with views of her own home and a peek into her studio. She highlights palaces and mansions, but she also takes readers to animal homes and a certain famously folkloric shoe (whose iconic Old Woman manages a passel of multiethnic kids absorbed in daring games). One spread showcases “some folks” who “live on the road”; a band unloads its tour bus in front of a theater marquee. Ellis’ compelling ink and gouache paintings, in a palette of blue-grays, sepia and brick red, depict scenes ranging from mythical, underwater Atlantis to a distant moonscape. Another spread, depicting a garden and large building under connected, transparent domes, invites readers to wonder: “Who in the world lives here? / And why?” (Earth is seen as a distant blue marble.) Some of Ellis’ chosen depictions, oddly juxtaposed and stripped of any historical or cultural context due to the stylized design and spare text, become stereotypical. “Some homes are boats. / Some homes are wigwams.” A sailing ship’s crew seems poised to land near a trio of men clad in breechcloths—otherwise unidentified and unremarked upon.
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6529-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
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