A poignant tale about a pint-sized tot who longs to be big. The youngest of eight, little Maggie McGee can’t wait to do all the fun things her brothers and sisters do, like riding bikes and going to school. Too often, being the littlest means being left out. In due time she enters school, only to make the disheartening discovery that there are still more big-kid activities and privileges just out of her reach. “I will never big enough, thought Maggie. Not in my whole life.” However, when Maggie’s older brother forgets his lines during the fourth-grade play, it’s none other but the littlest who comes to his rescue. With a wry but sympathetic eye, Van Leeuwen paints an accurate portrait of life at the bottom of the family totem pole. Readers will empathize with Maggie’s predicament, her tale being an anthem for all younger siblings, who can glean some measure of hope (and reassurance) from her experiences. Rogers’s soft watercolors add a dash of zest to the slow-paced tale, marking Maggie’s growth with changes in hairstyle and her proportion to her surroundings. Detailed paintings don’t miss a beat, capturing all the humor of the situations and Maggie’s spunky determination to measure up to the older kids. More slice-of-life than high adventure, Van Leeuwen’s story is sweetly engaging; it putters along at an even keel without ever reaching any exciting peaks but is never the less a satisfying read. And just watch what happens when Maggie really grows up. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: May 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-8037-2357-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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