A glorious look at the potential benefits and vulnerabilities of a new possibility.
A modern-day fable about taking risks.
A giant emerges from the vast ocean and comes ashore near a small city so quiet that “you can hear the movie theater over the bustle of the cars.” An unseen narrator asks what would happen if the giant entered the city and immersed himself in their society. Would the citizens “welcome him the way they do the first rain”? Would “the old folks” of the town “tell him old stories”? Would he play hide-and-seek with the “tiny inhabitants,” or would he gaze at the waves and “wonder why they turn back before arriving”? Young readers will relate to the emotions felt by both the narrator and the giant as they ponder the potential pros and cons of jumping into a new experience. Intricate, painterly illustrations beautifully capture the potential journey taken by the giant. López plays adeptly with perspective, making the city and its residents appear even smaller while the physical and existential presence of the giant looms larger. Spreads featuring large footprints on the beach and in the surf and giant-shaped holes in the forest canopy are particularly striking, paired with the elegant, spare text, translated from Spanish. The unnamed humans in the city are depicted with various shades of brown and tan skin tones. We see only glimpses of the giant: a darkened silhouette, a pair of legs.
A glorious look at the potential benefits and vulnerabilities of a new possibility. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 16, 2024
ISBN: 9781945492877
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Transit Children's Editions
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted...
Reinvention is the name of the game for two blobs of clay.
A blue-eyed gray blob and a brown-eyed brown blob sit side by side, unsure as to what’s going to happen next. The gray anticipates an adventure, while the brown appears apprehensive. A pair of hands descends, and soon, amid a flurry of squishing and prodding and poking and sculpting, a handsome gray wolf and a stately brown owl emerge. The hands disappear, leaving the friends to their own devices. The owl is pleased, but the wolf convinces it that the best is yet to come. An ear pulled here and an extra eye placed there, and before you can shake a carving stick, a spurt of frenetic self-exploration—expressed as a tangled black scribble—reveals a succession of smug hybrid beasts. After all, the opportunity to become a “pig-e-phant” doesn’t come around every day. But the sound of approaching footsteps panics the pair of Picassos. How are they going to “fix [them]selves” on time? Soon a hippopotamus and peacock are staring bug-eyed at a returning pair of astonished hands. The creative naiveté of the “clay mates” is perfectly captured by Petty’s feisty, spot-on dialogue: “This was your idea…and it was a BAD one.” Eldridge’s endearing sculpted images are photographed against the stark white background of an artist’s work table to great effect.
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted fun of their own . (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-30311-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre.
Ice princess Lina must navigate family and school in this early chapter read.
The family picnic is today. This is not a typical gathering, since Lina’s maternal relatives are a royal family of Windtamers who have power over the weather and live in castles floating on clouds. Lina herself is mixed race, with black hair and a tan complexion like her Asian-presenting mother’s; her Groundling father appears to be a white human. While making a grand entrance at the castle of her grandfather, the North Wind, she fails to successfully ride a gust of wind and crashes in front of her entire family. This prompts her stern grandfather to ask that Lina move in with him so he can teach her to control her powers. Desperate to avoid this, Lina and her friend Claudia, who is black, get Lina accepted at the Hilltop Science and Arts Academy. Lina’s parents allow her to go as long as she does lessons with grandpa on Saturdays. However, fitting in at a Groundling school is rough, especially when your powers start freak winter storms! With the story unfurling in diary format, bright-pink–highlighted grayscale illustrations help move the plot along. There are slight gaps in the storytelling and the pacing is occasionally uneven, but Lina is full of spunk and promotes self-acceptance.
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre. (Fantasy. 5-8)Pub Date: June 25, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-35393-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
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