Just one of many picture books about expressions of love, it’s not likely to become a favorite.
A new garden addition becomes a sprite’s beloved friend.
The first two spreads are wordless: A gardener, seen from the neck down, places a roly-poly gnome decoration on a stump. From the window of a miniature house, an excited sprite watches. The turn of the page shows the tiny figure exiting the house and then lovingly setting off with her new friend in her arms, later shifted to the basket on her back, a content and loving smile on her face. (The sprite is gendered only in the flap copy; her blue shirt, brown pants, red conical hat, and pageboy haircut could belong to either gender, though she does have pronounced eyelashes.) The sprite expresses her love for her inanimate friend using nature similes: “I love you… // Like raindrops love a puddle, // Like moss loves a tree, / Like mushrooms love the shade, // Like fur loves a cuddle.” This last shows the sprite and her gnome held softly within the curl of a squirrel’s tail. The seasons pass, and it’s an early winter’s evening as the duo heads back to the cozy cottage. Smith’s rhymes and rhythms are often rough, and the similes are sometimes nonsensical: “Like quiet loves the snow”; “Like a pillow loves to sleep.” Bright colors with lots of charming details—smiling insects and flora—fill the spreads.
Just one of many picture books about expressions of love, it’s not likely to become a favorite. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: May 15, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-77147-157-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Owlkids Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 18, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2018
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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
A tale of intergenerational bonding to be shared by grandparents and grandchildren.
In talk-show host Fallon and illustrator Ordóñez’s latest picture-book collaboration, an elderly pooch waxes rhapsodic about a life well lived.
Observing Papa sitting in his chair watching TV all day, a young pup says, “I’m starting to think…you don’t do ANYTHING.” So Papa proceeds to list his accomplishments, both big and small, mundane and profound. Some are just a result of being older and physically bigger (being tall enough to reach a high shelf and strong enough to open jars); others include winning a race and performing in a band when he was younger. Eventually, the pup realizes that while Papa may have slowed down in his old age, he’s led a full life. The most satisfying thing about Papa’s life now? Watching his grandchild take center stage: “I can say lots of thoughts / but I choose to be quiet. / I’d rather you discover things and then try it.” Fallon’s straightforward text is sweetly upbeat, though it occasionally lacks flow, forcing incongruous situations together to fit the rhyme scheme (“I cook and I mow, / and I once flew a plane. // I play newspaper puzzles because it’s good for my brain”). Featuring uncluttered, colorful backgrounds, Ordóñez’s child-friendly digital art at times takes on sepia tones, evoking the sense of looking back at old photos or memories. Though the creators tread familiar ground, the love between Papa and his little one is palpable.
A tale of intergenerational bonding to be shared by grandparents and grandchildren. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 13, 2025
ISBN: 9781250393975
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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