A fresh and funny story of a good-natured soul who marches—with perseverance and gusto—to his own drummer.
Silli is a lovable fool who lives in an alpine meadow and solves his problems in the most unlikely ways.
The rosy-cheeked fellow is completely content to sleep next to his large sack of belongings, with “nothing but moonbeams for a bed”—until the wind blows. Then, “Silli felt…chilly.” The cartoon caricatures have a childlike feel; they portray a white, wispy-haired man with a long, oval face, a prominent, red nose, and a mobile expression. Having decided to search for sheep (so he can make yarn and knit a sweater), he spots five likely candidates on a neighboring mountain. Readers will immediately realize that they are rock formations, but there is much humor in Silli’s attempts to get them to follow him, including his imitation of a sheepdog. After carrying each one home, he breaks his shears trying to trim the “wool” and unsuccessfully tries to soften it with conditioner. He eventually—inadvertently—does create a wind barrier. As it starts to snow, and Silli drifts off dreaming of a cow so he can make hot chocolate, an actual sheep peers in at him. Stone’s narrative has the cadences and pacing of a classic tale, and she knows just where to leave room for Thomas to fill in his own comical touches. The result is a rollicking good time.
A fresh and funny story of a good-natured soul who marches—with perseverance and gusto—to his own drummer. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-4852-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: May 2, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2020
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
Thought-provoking and charming.
A sophisticated robot—with the capacity to use senses of sight, hearing, and smell—is washed to shore on an island, the only robot survivor of a cargo of 500.
When otters play with her protective packaging, the robot is accidently activated. Roz, though without emotions, is intelligent and versatile. She can observe and learn in service of both her survival and her principle function: to help. Brown links these basic functions to the kind of evolution Roz undergoes as she figures out how to stay dry and intact in her wild environment—not easy, with pine cones and poop dropping from above, stormy weather, and a family of cranky bears. She learns to understand and eventually speak the language of the wild creatures (each species with its different “accent”). An accident leaves her the sole protector of a baby goose, and Roz must ask other creatures for help to shelter and feed the gosling. Roz’s growing connection with her environment is sweetly funny, reminiscent of Randall Jarrell’s The Animal Family. At every moment Roz’s actions seem plausible and logical yet surprisingly full of something like feeling. Robot hunters with guns figure into the climax of the story as the outside world intrudes. While the end to Roz’s benign and wild life is startling and violent, Brown leaves Roz and her companions—and readers—with hope.
Thought-provoking and charming. (Science fiction/fantasy. 7-11)Pub Date: April 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-316-38199-4
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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