A touching tale of an enduring friendship.
A picture book about two close pals who celebrate their precious time together.
Vee and Sanaa are best friends who often play under a neighborhood mango tree and enjoy juicy mangos: “ ‘Under the mango tree, we will always be,’ the girls promised.” Truly carefree and joyful, the young girls share secrets, watch ants climb and “blackbirds squabble,” and make up stories about the animals they see in clouds’ shapes. One afternoon, Vee tells Sanaa that her family’s moving; under the mango tree, they promise “to keep each other forever in their hearts.” Later, Sanaa misses all the things she and Vee did together, but one day, she notices a heart they carved into the tree with their names inside and recalls the promise. Mark crafts a heartwarming tale of friendship and strong bonds, and her use of vivid, active language amplifies the powerful, enduring friendship at the heart of the narrative: “They swung so much they would often soar to the skies, get dizzy, and CRASH into the grass below, exploding into fits of laughter.” Cloud’s colorful cartoon illustrations effectively augment the pastoral scenes; the girls have bright, brown eyes filled with wonder. Vee and Sanaa and their mothers are all portrayed as Black, with varying skin tones.
A touching tale of an enduring friendship.Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-73512-443-8
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Sugar Apple Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Continuing to find inspiration in the work of Virginia Lee Burton, Munro Leaf and other illustrators of the past, Long (The Little Engine That Could, 2005) offers an aw-shucks friendship tale that features a small but hardworking tractor (“putt puff puttedy chuff”) with a Little Toot–style face and a big-eared young descendant of Ferdinand the bull who gets stuck in deep, gooey mud. After the big new yellow tractor, crowds of overalls-clad locals and a red fire engine all fail to pull her out, the little tractor (who had been left behind the barn to rust after the arrival of the new tractor) comes putt-puff-puttedy-chuff-ing down the hill to entice his terrified bovine buddy successfully back to dry ground. Short on internal logic but long on creamy scenes of calf and tractor either gamboling energetically with a gaggle of McCloskey-like geese through neutral-toned fields or resting peacefully in the shade of a gnarled tree (apple, not cork), the episode will certainly draw nostalgic adults. Considering the author’s track record and influences, it may find a welcome from younger audiences too. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-399-25248-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2009
SEEN & HEARD
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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