Young and old alike will enjoy pondering what messages lurk in—and spill from—this captivating journey from street to sky,...
A young boy follows a cat through an unfamiliar apartment.
The plot of this wordless import from Slovenia is straightforward. Intrigued by a cat he sees slipping into an open door, a boy in a striped shirt enters an apartment building and follows the friendly feline up to the attic. Along the way, he finds a series of drawings and, eventually, discovers a potential friend. The atmospheric illustrations provide a complex counterpoint, with quirky details that reward multiple viewings and offer unexpected glimpses of (possibly) familiar objects for readers of all ages. Created in watercolor and making use primarily of blacks, browns, and reds, the pictures evoke an old-fashioned, Old World setting perfectly. Shadowy rooms and stairwells reveal books, artwork, toys, and creatures both benign and mysterious. Some adults may find the idea of an unsupervised child entering an unknown building disconcerting; others may find the illustrations somewhat creepy. Young viewers will be too busy poring over the intriguing components of each densely designed double-page spread to worry. Of particular interest, most likely, will be the pair of mice that appear throughout. Carrying out their own quixotic quest to crack a walnut, they ultimately put it to humorous use as pictured on the colophon.
Young and old alike will enjoy pondering what messages lurk in—and spill from—this captivating journey from street to sky, dark to light, solitude to companionship. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 11, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-77321-055-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Annick Press
Review Posted Online: May 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted...
Reinvention is the name of the game for two blobs of clay.
A blue-eyed gray blob and a brown-eyed brown blob sit side by side, unsure as to what’s going to happen next. The gray anticipates an adventure, while the brown appears apprehensive. A pair of hands descends, and soon, amid a flurry of squishing and prodding and poking and sculpting, a handsome gray wolf and a stately brown owl emerge. The hands disappear, leaving the friends to their own devices. The owl is pleased, but the wolf convinces it that the best is yet to come. An ear pulled here and an extra eye placed there, and before you can shake a carving stick, a spurt of frenetic self-exploration—expressed as a tangled black scribble—reveals a succession of smug hybrid beasts. After all, the opportunity to become a “pig-e-phant” doesn’t come around every day. But the sound of approaching footsteps panics the pair of Picassos. How are they going to “fix [them]selves” on time? Soon a hippopotamus and peacock are staring bug-eyed at a returning pair of astonished hands. The creative naiveté of the “clay mates” is perfectly captured by Petty’s feisty, spot-on dialogue: “This was your idea…and it was a BAD one.” Eldridge’s endearing sculpted images are photographed against the stark white background of an artist’s work table to great effect.
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted fun of their own . (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-30311-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre.
Ice princess Lina must navigate family and school in this early chapter read.
The family picnic is today. This is not a typical gathering, since Lina’s maternal relatives are a royal family of Windtamers who have power over the weather and live in castles floating on clouds. Lina herself is mixed race, with black hair and a tan complexion like her Asian-presenting mother’s; her Groundling father appears to be a white human. While making a grand entrance at the castle of her grandfather, the North Wind, she fails to successfully ride a gust of wind and crashes in front of her entire family. This prompts her stern grandfather to ask that Lina move in with him so he can teach her to control her powers. Desperate to avoid this, Lina and her friend Claudia, who is black, get Lina accepted at the Hilltop Science and Arts Academy. Lina’s parents allow her to go as long as she does lessons with grandpa on Saturdays. However, fitting in at a Groundling school is rough, especially when your powers start freak winter storms! With the story unfurling in diary format, bright-pink–highlighted grayscale illustrations help move the plot along. There are slight gaps in the storytelling and the pacing is occasionally uneven, but Lina is full of spunk and promotes self-acceptance.
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre. (Fantasy. 5-8)Pub Date: June 25, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-35393-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
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