A sweet and joyful family tale.
Inspired by his late father Bob Marley’s hit song “Jamming,” Grammy-winning musician Ziggy Marley tells the story of a family throwing an epic pajama party complete with games, snacks, storytelling, and music-making.
Preparing for late-night fun, four children and their parents don their favorite jammies and enjoy classic sleepover fun: pillow fights, flashlight tag, and, of course, staying up late. Marley does a simple rewrite of the familiar chorus: “’Cause we’re pajammin’! / I’m pajammin’ with you. / We’re pajammin’, / and I hope you like pajammin’ too.” Apart from that refrain, he doesn’t attempt to fit the text to the original’s pattern or rhythms (which sets the title apart from many similar song-to-book adaptations), though his phrasing and tone clearly draw inspiration from the source material: “Lie in the sleeping bag, chill and relax. / One more book before lights-out.” This is at times an awkward read-aloud, with some pages including rhyming stanzas, while others begin with a rhyme but finish without or don’t rhyme at all. Still, the characters' delight is plain to see as they drift from high-energy fun to snuggled-up sleep. The exuberant cartoon illustrations feature a family whose members have varying shades of brown skin.
A sweet and joyful family tale. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 24, 2025
ISBN: 9780063287198
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2025
A heartwarming story about facing fears and acceptance.
A boy with wings learns to be himself and inspires others like him to soar, too.
Norman, a “perfectly normal” boy, never dreamed he might grow wings. Afraid of what his parents might say, he hides his new wings under a big, stuffy coat. Although the coat hides his wings from the world, Norman no longer finds joy in bathtime, playing at the park, swimming, or birthday parties. With the gentle encouragement of his parents, who see his sadness, Norman finds the courage to come out of hiding and soar. Percival (The Magic Looking Glass, 2017, etc.) depicts Norman with light skin and dark hair. Black-and-white illustrations show his father with dark skin and hair and his mother as white. The contrast of black-and-white illustrations with splashes of bright color complements the story’s theme. While Norman tries to be “normal,” the world and people around him look black and gray, but his coat stands out in yellow. Birds pop from the page in pink, green, and blue, emphasizing the joy and beauty of flying free. The final spread, full of bright color and multiracial children in flight, sets the mood for Norman’s realization on the last page that there is “no such thing as perfectly normal,” but he can be “perfectly Norman.”
A heartwarming story about facing fears and acceptance. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: May 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-68119-785-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
Still, this young boy’s imagination is a powerful force for helping him deal with life, something that should be true for...
Oliver, of first-day-of-school alligator fame, is back, imagining adventures and still struggling to find balance between introversion and extroversion.
“When Oliver found his egg…” on the playground, mint-green backgrounds signifying Oliver’s flight into fancy slowly grow larger until they take up entire spreads; Oliver’s creature, white and dinosaurlike with orange polka dots, grows larger with them. Their adventures include sharing treats, sailing the seas and going into outer space. A classmate’s yell brings him back to reality, where readers see him sitting on top of a rock. Even considering Schmid’s scribbly style, readers can almost see the wheels turning in his head as he ponders the girl and whether or not to give up his solitary play. “But when Oliver found his rock… // Oliver imagined many adventures // with all his friends!” This last is on a double gatefold that opens to show the children enjoying the creature’s slippery curves. A final wordless spread depicts all the children sitting on rocks, expressions gleeful, wondering, waiting, hopeful. The illustrations, done in pastel pencil and digital color, again make masterful use of white space and page turns, although this tale is not nearly as funny or tongue-in-cheek as Oliver and His Alligator (2013), nor is its message as clear and immediately accessible to children.
Still, this young boy’s imagination is a powerful force for helping him deal with life, something that should be true for all children but sadly isn’t. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: July 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4231-7573-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2014
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