An ebullient celebration of family.
Reminiscent of Cynthia Rylant and Stephen Gammell’s Caldecott Honor book, The Relatives Came (1993), Crum and Catrow’s collaboration delivers a spirited, loving depiction of extended familial bonds.
Jacket art squarely identifies the child cousins, rather than aunts, uncles, grandparents or other grown-ups, as the focus of this story about a joyous family reunion, as a bevy of kids races toward the right side of the cover, inviting readers to follow. Title-page art then brings readers back in time to the car trip to the reunion, but then the copyright and dedication pages mysteriously zoom in on restful hens. The story’s beginning explains this artistic deviation as the chickens scatter with the exuberant arrival of carloads of family members and their descent on the homestead. Artistic embellishments such as this and the matter-of-fact inclusion of a multicultural cast of characters enhance the joyful text in which cousins mischievously romp through their time together under the patient and tolerant eyes of the adults who love them so. In this sense, the picture book as a whole (words and art) feels much more akin to Gammell’s humorous, energetic art in The Relatives Came than to Rylant’s nostalgic, bittersweet, moving text. The result is a seamless, though in comparison, perhaps less complex or powerful, treatment of family.
An ebullient celebration of family. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: July 2, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-618-15874-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 14, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2013
Nice enough but not worth repeat reads.
Emma deals with jitters before playing the guitar in the school talent show.
Pop musician Kevin Jonas and his wife, Danielle, put performance at the center of their picture-book debut. When Emma is intimidated by her very talented friends, the encouragement of her younger sister, Bella, and the support of her family help her to shine her own light. The story is straightforward and the moral familiar: Draw strength from your family and within to overcome your fears. Employing the performance-anxiety trope that’s been written many times over, the book plods along predictably—there’s nothing really new or surprising here. Dawson’s full-color digital illustrations center a White-presenting family along with Emma’s three friends of color: Jamila has tanned skin and wears a hijab; Wendy has dark brown skin and Afro puffs; and Luis has medium brown skin. Emma’s expressive eyes and face are the real draw of the artwork—from worry to embarrassment to joy, it’s clear what she’s feeling. A standout double-page spread depicts Emma’s talent show performance, with a rainbow swirl of music erupting from an amp and Emma rocking a glam outfit and electric guitar. Overall, the book reads pretty plainly, buoyed largely by the artwork. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Nice enough but not worth repeat reads. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: March 29, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-35207-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
A visually striking, engaging picture book that sends the message that everyone counts.
A playful counting book also acts as a celebration of family and human diversity.
Shannon’s text is delivered in spare, rhythmic, lilting verse that begins with one and counts up to 10 as it presents different groupings of things and people in individual families, always emphasizing the unitary nature of each combination. “One is six. One line of laundry. One butterfly’s legs. One family.” Gomez’s richly colored pictures clarify and expand on all that the text lists: For “six,” a picture showing six members of a multigenerational family of color includes a line of laundry with six items hanging from it outside of their windows, as well as the painting of a six-legged butterfly that a child in the family is creating. While text never directs the art to depict diverse individuals and family constellations, Gomez does just this in her illustrations. Interracial families are included, as are depictions of men with their arms around each other, and a Sikh man wearing a turban. This inclusive spirit supports the text’s culminating assertion that “One is one and everyone. One earth. One world. One family.”
A visually striking, engaging picture book that sends the message that everyone counts. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 26, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-374-30003-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Frances Foster/Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
