A lovely bedtime pick to share with a beloved grandparent.
In this book in verse, two loved ones enjoy the pleasures that each season brings.
The title page’s illustration suggests that the characters are grandparent and grandchild: Two adults, one light-skinned and one dark-skinned, are dropping the child off with an older adult, who stands poised for a hug. The digitally engineered artwork gives an impression of charcoal, watercolor, and pastels, which creates a soothing accompaniment to words that are equally tender. Beginning with spring, each season is allotted six pages for the child’s ruminations on their various activities. The text scans well and speaks to the simpler pleasures of being with loved ones: sharing an umbrella in spring, cooling off in the shade in summer, flying a kite in autumn, and cozying up indoors with hot beverages in winter. Details about differences between the two characters enhance the feeling of fond familiarity: “I zip up my fleece to the tip of my chin. / You pull on a sweater instead.” The final pages of the book wrap up in an expected way, with the child summarizing their feelings as night falls outside: “For no matter the weather / whatever we do, every day’s better… // together with you.” Though the last verse feels a little clichéd, it’s saved by the sincerity and intimacy of the previous pages. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A lovely bedtime pick to share with a beloved grandparent. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-5362-2351-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2022
Sweet.
A caregiving bear shares with its cub how love has defined their relationship from the first moment and through the years as the cub has grown.
With rhymes and a steady rhythm that are less singsong-y than similar books, Stansbie seems to have hit a sweet spot for this offering on the I-love-you-always shelf. Readers follow the adult and child as they share special moments together—a sunset, a splash in a pond, climbing a tree, a snuggle—and the adult tells the child that the love it feels has only grown. Stansbie also takes care not to put promises in the adult bear’s mouth that can’t be delivered, acknowledging that physical proximity is not always possible: “Wherever you are, / even when we’re apart… // I’ll love you forever / with all of my heart.” The large trim size helps the sweet illustrations shine; their emphasis is on the close relationship between parent and child. Shaped peekaboo windows offer glimpses of preceding and succeeding pages, images and text carefully placed to work whatever the context. While the die cuts on the interior pages will not hold up to rough handling, they do add whimsy and delight to the book as a whole: “And now that you’re bigger, / you make my heart sing. / My / beautiful / wonderful / magical / thing.” Those last three adjectives are positioned in leaf-shaped cutouts, the turn of the page revealing the roly-poly cub in a pile of leaves, three formed by the die-cuts. Opposite, three vignettes show the cub appreciating the “beautiful,” the “wonderful,” and the “magical.”
Sweet. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Dec. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-68412-910-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Silver Dolphin
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2019
Instills a sense of well-being in youngsters while encouraging them to explore the natural world.
This reassuring picture book exemplifies how parents throughout the animal kingdom make homes for their offspring.
The narrative is written from the point of view of a parent talking to their child: “If you were a beaver, I would gnaw on trees with my teeth to build a cozy lodge for us to sleep in during the day.” Text appears in big, easy-to-read type, with the name of the creature in boldface. Additional facts about the animal appear in a smaller font, such as: “Beavers have transparent eyelids to help them see under water.” The gathering of land, air, and water animals includes a raven, a flying squirrel, and a sea lion. “Home” might be a nest, a den, or a burrow. One example, of a blue whale who has homes in the north and south (ocean is implied), will help children stretch the concept into feeling at home in the larger world. Illustrations of the habitats have an inviting luminosity. Mature and baby animals are realistically depicted, although facial features appear to have been somewhat softened, perhaps to appeal to young readers. The book ends with the comforting scene of a human parent and child silhouetted in the welcoming lights of the house they approach: “Wherever you may be, you will always have a home with me.”
Instills a sense of well-being in youngsters while encouraging them to explore the natural world. (Informational picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-63217-224-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little Bigfoot/Sasquatch
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
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