This accessible story will validate readers who relish their quiet time as well as their friends.
Reading, friends, and fertile imagination combine in this neighborhood follow-up to Colette’s Lost Pet (2017).
Young Albert is looking through Mile End, an urban row-house neighborhood in Montreal, for a quiet place to read a book. In the alley, Albert finds a discarded painting of an ocean sunset and pulls up a chair in front of it for quiet reading and contemplation. The page turn gives way to a wordless double-page spread of Albert sitting in a chaise on the beach, and readers will understand that Albert has entered the ocean-sunset picture via imagination. Two friends arrive in the alley to repot a plant, and in Albert’s imaginative world they also enter the beach scene, building a sand castle. As other friends arrive, they, too, enter the beach scene, until it becomes crowded and noisy. Finally Albert yells in frustration, “That’s it! QUIET!!” This pale, blue-green–and-orange beach scene is now followed by an illustration showing Albert’s friends, wearing reproachful expressions, slinking away down the black-and-white alley. They return, though, with books of their own—and a surprise response to Albert’s abashed apology. Author/illustrator Arsenault does a terrific job directing the story’s pace and ambiance using wordless spot and double-page–spread illustrations interspersed with others containing dialogue bubbles and hand-lettered sound effects. Albert presents white, and his friends are diverse.
This accessible story will validate readers who relish their quiet time as well as their friends. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 4, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-553-53656-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: March 11, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2019
Serve this superbly designed title to all who relish slightly scary stories.
Kids know vegetables can be scary, but rarely are edible roots out to get someone. In this whimsical mock-horror tale, carrots nearly frighten the whiskers off Jasper Rabbit, an interloper at Crackenhopper Field.
Jasper loves carrots, especially those “free for the taking.” He pulls some in the morning, yanks out a few in the afternoon, and comes again at night to rip out more. Reynolds builds delicious suspense with succinct language that allows understatements to be fully exploited in Brown’s hilarious illustrations. The cartoon pictures, executed in pencil and then digitally colored, are in various shades of gray and serve as a perfectly gloomy backdrop for the vegetables’ eerie orange on each page. “Jasper couldn’t get enough carrots … / … until they started following him.” The plot intensifies as Jasper not only begins to hear the veggies nearby, but also begins to see them everywhere. Initially, young readers will wonder if this is all a product of Jasper’s imagination. Was it a few snarling carrots or just some bathing items peeking out from behind the shower curtain? The ending truly satisfies both readers and the book’s characters alike. And a lesson on greed goes down like honey instead of a forkful of spinach.
Serve this superbly designed title to all who relish slightly scary stories. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 21, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0297-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 1, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.
In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.
Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780063387843
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
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