PEPITA PACKS UP/PEPITA EMPACA

Name: PEPITA PACKS UP/PEPITA EMPACA
Author: Ofelia Dumas Lachtman
ISBN: 1-55885-431-2

by Ofelia Dumas Lachtman & illustrated by Alex Pardo DeLange & translated by Gabriela Baeza Ventura ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 30, 2005

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On moving day, Pepita does not want to say goodbye to her friends and neighbors because doing so makes her cry. She uses their suggestions instead—“I’ll be seeing you,” “Go with God,” “Until tomorrow.” But faced with her best friend Sonya’s tears, Pepita cries too. Lachtman’s text combines a traumatic event—moving to a new neighborhood—with the comfort of loving family and neighbors and the pleasure of meeting a new friend. Pepita’s last visits combine predictability with variety as each person suggests a different way of not saying goodbye. DeLange’s full-page illustrations combine black outlines with pastel sweeps of color for vivid, almost two-dimensional scenes in which the slightly rounded people in some ways resemble dolls. They face English and Spanish texts in large, easy-to-read print. The Spanish translation is adept, in some places reading even more fluidly than the English original. While not an essential purchase, Pepita’s latest adventure will be welcome in libraries where the earlier books are popular and those in which more bilingual titles are necessary. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Nov. 30, 2005

ISBN: 1-55885-431-2

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Piñata Books/Arte Público

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2005

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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A DOG NAMED SAM

by Janice Boland & illustrated by G. Brian Karas ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1996

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A book that will make young dog-owners smile in recognition and confirm dogless readers' worst suspicions about the mayhem caused by pets, even winsome ones. Sam, who bears passing resemblance to an affable golden retriever, is praised for fetching the family newspaper, and goes on to fetch every other newspaper on the block. In the next story, only the children love Sam's swimming; he is yelled at by lifeguards and fishermen alike when he splashes through every watering hole he can find. Finally, there is woe to the entire family when Sam is bored and lonely for one long night. Boland has an essential message, captured in both both story and illustrations of this Easy-to-Read: Kids and dogs belong together, especially when it's a fun-loving canine like Sam. An appealing tale. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: April 1, 1996

ISBN: 0-8037-1530-7

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Dial Books

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1996

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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HOME

by Carson Ellis ; illustrated by Carson Ellis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 24, 2015

Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions.

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Ellis, known for her illustrations for Colin Meloy’s Wildwood series, here riffs on the concept of “home.”

Shifting among homes mundane and speculative, contemporary and not, Ellis begins and ends with views of her own home and a peek into her studio. She highlights palaces and mansions, but she also takes readers to animal homes and a certain famously folkloric shoe (whose iconic Old Woman manages a passel of multiethnic kids absorbed in daring games). One spread showcases “some folks” who “live on the road”; a band unloads its tour bus in front of a theater marquee. Ellis’ compelling ink and gouache paintings, in a palette of blue-grays, sepia and brick red, depict scenes ranging from mythical, underwater Atlantis to a distant moonscape. Another spread, depicting a garden and large building under connected, transparent domes, invites readers to wonder: “Who in the world lives here? / And why?” (Earth is seen as a distant blue marble.) Some of Ellis’ chosen depictions, oddly juxtaposed and stripped of any historical or cultural context due to the stylized design and spare text, become stereotypical. “Some homes are boats. / Some homes are wigwams.” A sailing ship’s crew seems poised to land near a trio of men clad in breechcloths—otherwise unidentified and unremarked upon.

Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions. (Picture book. 4-8)