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HUM AND SWISH

Name: HUM AND SWISH
Author: Matt Myers
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4286-7

by Matt Myers ; illustrated by Matt Myers ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 11, 2019

A lovely homage to a child’s passionate creativity.

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A summer day at the beach inspires Jamie to create something with bits and pieces in the sand.

Jamie is intensely involved, humming softly as the waves swish nearby. Several people, including Jamie’s mom and dad, make inane comments or ask what Jamie’s project is. Jamie answers abruptly and vaguely—or doesn’t answer at all. Jamie is totally comfortable there at the edge of the sea, working and observing and listening, and the sea never asks questions. When someone arrives with art supplies and no questions, it is Jamie who asks, “What are you making?” When the woman says she doesn’t know yet, Jamie has found a kindred spirit, and they work side by side without conversation. When their projects are complete, there is a lovely surprise at the reveal. Myers’ spare, almost terse, text is accompanied by acrylic-and-oil illustrations in full- and double-page spreads mixed with vignettes suspended against very bright white spaces. Sand and sea are beautifully rendered in subtle tones of gold and deep blue, and glimpses of Jamie’s project are intriguing. Jamie presents white, and the diverse people encountered are depicted in a manner that is at once realistic and painterly. Jamie’s body language and facial expressions allow readers to feel the child’s fierce dedication and exasperation at being interrupted.

A lovely homage to a child’s passionate creativity. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: June 11, 2019

ISBN: 978-0-8234-4286-7

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Neal Porter/Holiday House

Review Posted Online: March 30, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
THE WORLD'S LONGEST LICORICE ROPE
by Matt Myers ; illustrated by Matt Myers

- BOOK REVIEW
LILY LEADS THE WAY
by Margi Preus ; illustrated by Matt Myers

- BOOK REVIEW
CHILDREN OF THE FOREST
by Matt Myers ; illustrated by Matt Myers

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: June 21, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

- BOOK REVIEW
FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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TINY T. REX AND THE IMPOSSIBLE HUG

by Jonathan Stutzman ; illustrated by Jay Fleck ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 5, 2019

Wins for compassion and for the refusal to let physical limitations hold one back.

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With such short arms, how can Tiny T. Rex give a sad friend a hug?

Fleck goes for cute in the simple, minimally detailed illustrations, drawing the diminutive theropod with a chubby turquoise body and little nubs for limbs under a massive, squared-off head. Impelled by the sight of stegosaurian buddy Pointy looking glum, little Tiny sets out to attempt the seemingly impossible, a comforting hug. Having made the rounds seeking advice—the dino’s pea-green dad recommends math; purple, New Age aunt offers cucumber juice (“That is disgusting”); red mom tells him that it’s OK not to be able to hug (“You are tiny, but your heart is big!”), and blue and yellow older sibs suggest practice—Tiny takes up the last as the most immediately useful notion. Unfortunately, the “tree” the little reptile tries to hug turns out to be a pterodactyl’s leg. “Now I am falling,” Tiny notes in the consistently self-referential narrative. “I should not have let go.” Fortunately, Tiny lands on Pointy’s head, and the proclamation that though Rexes’ hugs may be tiny, “I will do my very best because you are my very best friend” proves just the mood-lightening ticket. “Thank you, Tiny. That was the biggest hug ever.” Young audiences always find the “clueless grown-ups” trope a knee-slapper, the overall tone never turns preachy, and Tiny’s instinctive kindness definitely puts him at (gentle) odds with the dinky dino star of Bob Shea’s Dinosaur Vs. series.

Wins for compassion and for the refusal to let physical limitations hold one back. (Picture book. 5-7)