Bedtime or naptime perfection.
How will a lonely boy in a lighthouse find a friend?
Caspian is a self-sufficient young boy who probably ages from 6 to 7 during the story. The opening double-page spread immediately draws readers into Caspian’s world of both natural beauty and isolation. Against a stark white background, a lighthouse sits above a sheer cliff of sand and rock. Far below and to the right, the tiny figure of Caspian is visible on a small sliver of land, gazing toward the sea. The opening words inform readers that Caspian lives in the lighthouse. Poetic lines about Caspian’s life follow: “Every day, he watches the waves, / wondering, waiting, wishing for a friend.” When he gets no results from beaming his lighthouse light, a delightful double-page sequence shows Caspian printing a message on a paper, emptying a translucent green jug of its flowers, and carefully pushing his rolled-up message into it. More lyrical text and dreamlike art follow, as Caspian sends his message out to sea, waits for months, and eventually gets a one-word response. He rows his little boat out under the night sky’s constellations, and eventually he meets up with the friend who will bear him back home. The striking, stylized art and text work perfectly together to create a whimsical, nonthreatening story that still has plenty of action and adventure—with the bonus of not one interfering grown-up. Caspian is depicted with pale skin, straight, dark hair, and dark eyes.
Bedtime or naptime perfection. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4521-3780-3
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 25, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
A heartwarming story about facing fears and acceptance.
A boy with wings learns to be himself and inspires others like him to soar, too.
Norman, a “perfectly normal” boy, never dreamed he might grow wings. Afraid of what his parents might say, he hides his new wings under a big, stuffy coat. Although the coat hides his wings from the world, Norman no longer finds joy in bathtime, playing at the park, swimming, or birthday parties. With the gentle encouragement of his parents, who see his sadness, Norman finds the courage to come out of hiding and soar. Percival (The Magic Looking Glass, 2017, etc.) depicts Norman with light skin and dark hair. Black-and-white illustrations show his father with dark skin and hair and his mother as white. The contrast of black-and-white illustrations with splashes of bright color complements the story’s theme. While Norman tries to be “normal,” the world and people around him look black and gray, but his coat stands out in yellow. Birds pop from the page in pink, green, and blue, emphasizing the joy and beauty of flying free. The final spread, full of bright color and multiracial children in flight, sets the mood for Norman’s realization on the last page that there is “no such thing as perfectly normal,” but he can be “perfectly Norman.”
A heartwarming story about facing fears and acceptance. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: May 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-68119-785-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
Let these crayons go back into their box.
The Crayons return to celebrate Easter.
Six crayons (Red, Orange, Yellow, Esteban, who is green and wears a yellow cape, White, and Blue) each take a shape and scribble designs on it. Purple, perplexed and almost angry, keeps asking why no one is creating an egg, but the six friends have a great idea. They take the circle decorated with red shapes, the square adorned with orange squiggles “the color of the sun,” the triangle with yellow designs, also “the color of the sun” (a bit repetitious), a rectangle with green wavy lines, a white star, about which Purple remarks: “DID you even color it?” and a rhombus covered with blue markings and slap the shapes onto a big, light-brown egg. Then the conversation turns to hiding the large object in plain sight. The joke doesn’t really work, the shapes are not clear enough for a concept book, and though colors are delineated, it’s not a very original color book. There’s a bit of clever repartee. When Purple observe that Esteban’s green rectangle isn’t an egg, Esteban responds, “No, but MY GOSH LOOK how magnificent it is!” Still, that won’t save this lackluster book, which barely scratches the surface of Easter, whether secular or religious. The multimedia illustrations, done in the same style as the other series entries, are always fun, but perhaps it’s time to retire these anthropomorphic coloring implements. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Let these crayons go back into their box. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-62105-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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