A child frets about her mother leaving for the evening in this quirky, appealing tale. Arranged as a conversation between mother and child, the text addresses all the far-fetched fears a child can conjure. Rampaging pirates, lurking dragons, beguiling circus careers, a perilous giant, and even an impossibly enceinte feline are all put forth as valid reasons for the mother to stay home. After mother leaves with a reassuring hug, the child discovers all the fun having a sitter can entail. As the evening wanes, the young girl eagerly anticipates when her sitter will come again to play. The ingeniously arranged illustrations are the real lure here. A full-bleed, two-page spread focuses on each specific concern; the upper three-quarters of the spread feature the girl’s vivid imaginings: Mama decked out in her evening finery (including tiara) valiantly battling pirates, cavorting at the circus, etc. The lower quarter of the pages depicts the reality: the daughter in a pirate’s hat brandishing a wand, or playing circus with her stuffed animals. Dividing the fantasy from the reality is a swath of ribbon that runs across the spread, with the text printed onto the cloth. The gaily colored ribbons overlay the illustrations for an intriguing collage effect. After mother leaves, the spreads become more balanced, with the ribbons dividing the pages in half, as each portion reflects the reality of the mother’s night out and the child’s enjoyable time with her sitter. The final scene depicting the child nestled in bed with her mother, now returned safely home is all the reassurance a wary child could need. Imaginative and brimming with lively artwork, this is bound to captivate and soothe anxious readers. (Picture book. 4-7)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2002
ISBN: 1-58234-790-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Pedestrian.
Mr. Brown can’t help with farm chores because his shoes are missing—a common occurrence in his household and likely in many readers’ as well.
Children will be delighted that the titular Mr. Brown is in fact a child. After Mr. Brown looks in his closet and sorts through his other family members’ shoes with no luck, his father and his siblings help him search the farm. Eventually—after colorful pages that enable readers to spot footwear hiding—the family gives up on their hunt, and Mr. Brown asks to be carried around for the chores. He rides on his father’s shoulders as Papa gets his work done, as seen on a double-page spread of vignettes. The resolution is more of a lesson for the adult readers than for children, a saccharine moment where father and son express their joy that the missing shoes gave them the opportunity for togetherness—with advice for other parents to appreciate those fleeting moments themselves. Though the art is bright and cheerful, taking advantage of the setting, it occasionally is misaligned with the text (for example, the text states that Mr. Brown is wearing his favorite green shirt while the illustration is of a shirt with wide stripes of white and teal blue, which could confuse readers at the point where they’re trying to figure out which family member is Mr. Brown). The family is light-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Pedestrian. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 14, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-5460-0389-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: WorthyKids/Ideals
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022
The can’t-miss subject of this Step into Reading series entry—a unicorn with a magic horn who also longs for wings—trumps its text, which is dry even by easy-reader standards. A boy unicorn, whose horn has healing powers, reveals his wish to a butterfly in a castle garden, a bluebird in the forest and a snowy white swan in a pond. Falling asleep at the edge of the sea, the unicorn is visited by a winged white mare. He heals her broken wing and she flies away. After sadly invoking his wish once more, he sees his reflection: “He had big white wings!” He flies off after the mare, because he “wanted to say, ‘Thank you.’ ” Perfectly suiting this confection, Silin-Palmer’s pictures teem with the mass market–fueled iconography of what little girls are (ostensibly) made of: rainbows, flowers, twinkly stars and, of course, manes down to there. (Easy reader. 4-7)
Pub Date: Oct. 24, 2006
ISBN: 0-375-83117-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2006
BOOK REVIEW
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