Next book

A PLACE TO SLEEP

An assortment of animals and two children choose where to snooze in this colorful, oversized picture book. As always, Meade’s (When Papa Snores, 2000, etc.) collage art is striking. This time she works in two very different styles, the first using colorful pieces of cut and torn painted and textured paper to create page-sized pictures, the other on a much smaller scale employing stark black and white in exquisitely designed vignettes placed on an expanse of creamy space. On the right-hand side of the pages, the animals are introduced and depicted in color, their personalities emerging in a few deft strokes. “When this bear needs / to snooze, where / does he choose to / lay down his furry self?” The answer is found by turning the page to see a much smaller bear, depicted in black and white, slumbering in the arms of a tree. The alliterative text is rich in wordplay: the slumbering bear slumps, a sleek seal sleeps, and a “minuscule mouse needs a nest to rest in.” Lines of text curve across the opposing and contrasting pages, but this apparent attempt to unify results in some of the words practically disappearing into the gutter, making them difficult to read. Although individual aspects here are delightful, unfortunately they remain separate, and neither the design nor the text is strong enough to unify them. An interesting experiment that doesn’t succeed. (Picture book/poetry. 3-6)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2001

ISBN: 0-7614-5096-3

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Marshall Cavendish

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2001

Next book

CINDERELLA

From the Once Upon a World series

A nice but not requisite purchase.

A retelling of the classic fairy tale in board-book format and with a Mexican setting.

Though simplified for a younger audience, the text still relates the well-known tale: mean-spirited stepmother, spoiled stepsisters, overworked Cinderella, fairy godmother, glass slipper, charming prince, and, of course, happily-ever-after. What gives this book its flavor is the artwork. Within its Mexican setting, the characters are olive-skinned and dark-haired. Cultural references abound, as when a messenger comes carrying a banner announcing a “FIESTA” in beautiful papel picado. Cinderella is the picture of beauty, with her hair up in ribbons and flowers and her typically Mexican many-layered white dress. The companion volume, Snow White, set in Japan and illustrated by Misa Saburi, follows the same format. The simplified text tells the story of the beautiful princess sent to the forest by her wicked stepmother to be “done away with,” the dwarves that take her in, and, eventually, the happily-ever-after ending. Here too, what gives the book its flavor is the artwork. The characters wear traditional clothing, and the dwarves’ house has the requisite shoji screens, tatami mats and cherry blossoms in the garden. The puzzling question is, why the board-book presentation? Though the text is simplified, it’s still beyond the board-book audience, and the illustrations deserve full-size books.

A nice but not requisite purchase. (Board book/fairy tale. 3-5)

Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-4814-7915-8

Page Count: 24

Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017

Next book

IN THE SKY AT NIGHTTIME

A tender bedtime tale set in a too-seldom-seen northern world.

A quiet book for putting young children to bed in a state of snowy wonder.

The magic of the north comes alive in a picture book featuring Inuit characters. In the sky at nighttime, snow falls fast. / … / In the sky at nighttime, a raven roosts atop a tall building. / … / In the sky at nighttime, a mother’s delicate song to her child arises like a gentle breeze.” With the repetition of the simple, titular refrain, the author envisions what happens in a small town at night: Young children see their breath in the cold; a hunter returns on his snowmobile; the stars dazzle in the night sky. A young mother rocks her baby to sleep with a song and puts the tot down with a trio of stuffed animals: hare, polar bear, seal. The picture book evokes a feeling of peace as the street lamps, northern lights, and moon illuminate the snow. The illustrations are noteworthy for the way they meld the old world with what it looks like to be a modern Indigenous person: A sled dog and fur-lined parkas combine easily with the frame houses, a pickup truck, power lines, and mobile-hung crib. By introducing Indigenous characters in an unremarkably familiar setting, the book reaches children who don’t always see themselves in an everyday context.

A tender bedtime tale set in a too-seldom-seen northern world. (Picture book. 3-5)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-77227-238-3

Page Count: 36

Publisher: Inhabit Media

Review Posted Online: July 27, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019

Close Quickview