by Loretta Seto ; illustrated by Renné Benoit ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2013
Lovely.
“Tonight the moon shines like a polished pearl, round and fat.”
The Chinese Moon Festival is a time to celebrate family, and this year is no exception. Warm and appealing watercolor-and-gouache illustrations show a young girl’s family together as they light and hang lanterns, watch the glowing moon in the night sky, drink steaming tea and eat delicious mooncakes. Tonight the girl is allowed to stay up late and listen to her parents tell the tales of characters who inhabit the moon, including a wise and protective woman named Chang-E, a selfish woodcutter known as Wu-Gang, and the kind and sharing Jade Rabbit. Each briefly told tale is a sparkling jewel that contains a valuable lesson about trust, generosity or willpower. The framework of a family celebration is effective and satisfying here, and listeners will enjoy curling up with their parents, learning about or re-experiencing some of the holiday traditions, hearing the funny and comforting stories, and perhaps even drifting off to sleep. An author’s note points out the significance of the holiday and explains that “[e]ven relatives who are unable to be with their families can look up at the dark sky and know that their loved ones are watching the same moon.”
Lovely. (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4598-0107-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: Feb. 26, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2013
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by Sybil Rosen ; illustrated by Camille Garoche ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021
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
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by Jimmy Fallon ; illustrated by Rich Deas ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 3, 2024
Lighthearted and un-scary enough for bedtime.
Talk show host Fallon and illustrator Deas follow up 5 More Sleeps ’Til Christmas (2020) with a story of a youngster preparing for Halloween.
“It’s FIVE more sleeps ’til Halloween, / that spooky time of year / where all the ghosts are wide awake / as nighttime’s drawing near.” A calendar page with a large numeral 5 curls before a bright orange pumpkin. An orange-haired, light-skinned moppet wearing an enormous pair of blue glasses is hunkered down in bed with Gary the dog, whose vibrant blue coloring matches the bedspread. Occasionally accompanied by a sibling, the young narrator counts down day by day, describing seasonal activities: picking out a costume, navigating a corn maze, watching scary movies, taking part in a parade, going on a hayride, and trick-or-treating. The rhyming verses are sometimes a bit rocky but always fun. The text is periodically punctuated by the word boo, which appears in large, cartoonlike lettering; that, along with the calendar countdown motif, adds a pleasant repetition. Though the child confides feelings of trepidation (“What if bats fly in my room? / I think I’ll close my window now”), descriptions of scary moments are always offset by brightly colored, exuberant artwork. Humor abounds: Gary looks both hilarious and sweet dressed in a ghost costume that matches the narrator’s. The final page neatly closes the circle as the child goes from anticipating the holiday to participating in it and back again.
Lighthearted and un-scary enough for bedtime. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2024
ISBN: 9781250857798
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2024
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