Moses and his family are having a great time at the circus; but since Moses is deaf, the whole family signs. Even little sister Renee, who cannot talk yet, amuses this loving family by calling every animal “cat.” This third in the series (Moses Goes to a Concert, 1998; Moses Goes to School, 2000) can be read consecutively to watch Moses’s sister grow up. While Renee is getting taller and more able to sign, the hearing reader passively learns that a child who has no verbal language can be developing language skills before she is able to speak, and more important, a family with a child who is deaf can be normal. Set up by the earlier stories, the hearing readers learn by observing the main character, Moses, who can communicate with friends, schoolmates, and family with the ease born of an excellent American Sign Language education. Though Millman does not mean to be political, and it’s fabulous that a juvenile picture book can represent deaf culture, it will be a great day when the bibliotherapeutic aspects in books can be dispensed with in favor of the plot. Millman gently educates the public regarding factual information about sign language or deaf culture before the story begins, but the information shared in the text tends to detract and slow its pace. Insets show Moses signing a whole sentence, but on every page, readers can enjoy the watercolor illustrations edged in black even more, because the text corresponds to hand movements, making it possible to read hands while depicting a sweet boy who loves and is loved by his family—politics aside. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: March 10, 2003
ISBN: 0-374-35064-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Frances Foster/Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2002
Menacing and most likely to appeal to established fans of its co-creators.
Existing artwork from an artistic giant inspires a fairy-tale reimagination by a master of the horror genre.
In King’s interpretation of a classic Brothers Grimm story, which accompanies set and costume designs that the late Sendak created for a 1997 production of Engelbert Humperdinck’s opera, siblings Hansel and Gretel survive abandonment in the woods and an evil witch’s plot to gobble them up before finding their “happily ever after” alongside their father. Prose with the reassuring cadence of an old-timey tale, paired with Sendak’s instantly recognizable artwork, will lull readers before capitalizing on these creators’ knack for injecting darkness into seemingly safe spaces. Gaping faces loom in crevices of rocks and trees, and a gloomy palette of muted greens and ocher amplify the story’s foreboding tone, while King never sugarcoats the peach-skinned children’s peril. Branches with “clutching fingers” hide “the awful enchanted house” of a “child-stealing witch,” all portrayed in an eclectic mix of spot and full-bleed images. Featuring insults that might strike some as harsh (“idiot,” “fool”), the lengthy, dense text may try young readers’ patience, and the often overwhelmingly ominous mood feels more pitched to adults—particularly those familiar with King and Sendak—but an introduction acknowledges grandparents as a likely audience, and nostalgia may prompt leniency over an occasional disconnect between words and art.
Menacing and most likely to appeal to established fans of its co-creators. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9780062644695
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2025
Give this child’s-eye view of a day at the beach with an attentive father high marks for coziness: “When your ball blows across the sand and into the ocean and starts to drift away, your daddy could say, Didn’t I tell you not to play too close to the waves? But he doesn’t. He wades out into the cold water. And he brings your ball back to the beach and plays roll and catch with you.” Alley depicts a moppet and her relaxed-looking dad (to all appearances a single parent) in informally drawn beach and domestic settings: playing together, snuggling up on the sofa and finally hugging each other goodnight. The third-person voice is a bit distancing, but it makes the togetherness less treacly, and Dad’s mix of love and competence is less insulting, to parents and children both, than Douglas Wood’s What Dads Can’t Do (2000), illus by Doug Cushman. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: May 23, 2005
ISBN: 0-618-00361-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2005
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