Everyone in baby Ellen’s extended family has big dreams for their little girl. From truck driving to bird watching, family members encourage the babe to follow in their footsteps. Ellen responds accordingly each time: She yawns, snoozes and babbles until the family’s chatter finally overwhelms her. With a dramatic protest, Ellen “lets out an earthshaking howl, a cloud-ruffling yowl, a listen-to-me-I’m-a-baby squall,” and proud Mama truthfully declares, “For now Ellen will do just what Ellen wants.” Lively dialogue and an upbeat refrain enhance the spare text. Davenier’s watercolor-and-ink illustrations seamlessly blend colors; bursts of rosy reds lead to an arresting presentation. Soft, thin lines exude a comforting familiarity, and colored typefaces vary for added emphasis. Baby Ellen remains fully hidden from view until the final double-page spread; her crossed legs and smug smile reveal uninhibited satisfaction. While the narrative’s pointed message specifically targets new parents, taut pacing and soothing art combine to create a vibrant read-aloud for young listeners. (Picture book. 3-7)
Pub Date: April 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-8118-5026-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2009
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
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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