A beautifully illustrated children’s poem about the joys of reading.
A young girl travels to an isle of stories in Magistro’s debut picture book with illustrations by Feagan.
After dawn, a nameless child with olive skin, brown eyes, and long, wavy brown hair sets sail to an island composed of books. There, a sea wolf announces that it’s safe for all the other animals to come out, including grizzly bears, eagles, whales, elk, foxes, and salmon. They gather for a reading by a fox who encourages them to “Breathe in. Breathe out. Listen well.” The tale, told in short, rhyming proverbs from a poetic second-person perspective, is immersive. However, some readers may wish for a more well-defined plot. After the many vivid animal descriptions (“An eagle lands, a humpback waves”), not much happens on Read Island—but perhaps that’s Magistro’s point. Feagan’s winning, joyful illustrations, which use pleasing, delicate color palettes, make up for the lack of a strong storyline. One of the images—a fantastical, dynamic rainbow, featuring mermaids, gryphons, astronauts, and dragons—effectively captures the feeling of reading something really special for the first time. In the end, Magistro clarifies her point about the safe space that reading creates: “This world of stories, safe and true, / Is always here to welcome you.”
A beautifully illustrated children’s poem about the joys of reading.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-73-652330-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.
In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.
Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780063387843
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
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