In this companion to Almost (2009), young Jack has shifted his attention from growing up to the equally existential Why? And he is just as sweet as in the earlier volume, with his great moony head and little dot eyes, all in the soft, powdery colors of 1950s twin-set sweaters. Torrey allows Jack a whole range of curiosity: His questions are funny (“Why do feet stink?”), whimsical (“Why do they put these holes in the crackers?”) and touched by pathos: Why, he wants to know as the tears start leaking, did his fish die? The author gives Jack an older brother who doesn’t exactly thwart Jack’s quest for meaning but doesn’t give it any satisfaction either. Unfortunately the same can be said for the book—so many questions, so few answers. Well, one answer: “That’s why,” which closes the book after Jack, slipping into sleep, poses his last query, “Why do I have to go to sleep if I’m not tired?” It’s a resolution as unsatisfying as “because.” Readers will have been there before; what they’ll really want to know is, “Why can’t I have a tail?” (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-06-156170-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Dec. 30, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet notion that falls flat.
A hit song reimagined as a book about parental love.
Featured in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn—Part 1, Perri’s “A Thousand Years” deals with the speaker’s fear of romantic love. In picture-book form, it explores a parent’s unwavering love for a child, who grows from an infant into a toddler over the course of the narrative. The caregiver expresses awe when the youngster learns to stand and fear that the child might fall while beginning to walk. “I have spent every day waiting for you,” the parent says. “Darling, don’t be afraid.” What the child might fear isn’t clear from the joyful balloon- and rainbow-filled illustrations. The story borders on cloying, and words that might work when sung and accompanied by music don’t sound fresh on the page: “Time goes by. / You grow ever stronger as you fly.” The refrain, however, is a lovely sentiment: “I have loved you for a thousand years. / I’ll love you for a thousand more.” Perri’s legion of fans may flock to this version, illustrated by Ruiz with sparkling stars, bubbles, and big-eyed toddlers, but it doesn’t hold together as a narrative or an ode, as it’s billed, and it’s a long way from the original song. The child is tan-skinned, the parent is lighter-skinned, and other characters are diverse.
A sweet notion that falls flat. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 1, 2025
ISBN: 9780593622599
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
Give this child’s-eye view of a day at the beach with an attentive father high marks for coziness: “When your ball blows across the sand and into the ocean and starts to drift away, your daddy could say, Didn’t I tell you not to play too close to the waves? But he doesn’t. He wades out into the cold water. And he brings your ball back to the beach and plays roll and catch with you.” Alley depicts a moppet and her relaxed-looking dad (to all appearances a single parent) in informally drawn beach and domestic settings: playing together, snuggling up on the sofa and finally hugging each other goodnight. The third-person voice is a bit distancing, but it makes the togetherness less treacly, and Dad’s mix of love and competence is less insulting, to parents and children both, than Douglas Wood’s What Dads Can’t Do (2000), illus by Doug Cushman. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: May 23, 2005
ISBN: 0-618-00361-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2005
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