A message to savor, delivered with a light touch and contagious glee.
If possessions don’t bring joy, what good are they?
With unfeigned, unreserved delight, a child imagines all the things they might do with a chance-found rubber band. “This is my rubber band!” they proclaim. Not only can the child keep it for themselves, but they can wear it, bundle up future love letters or “all the bad people in the world,” drive off invading aliens, fly away to visit distant lands, and much else besides. This leads to ruminations about how everyone has or is forever searching for things to keep and value—big thoughts that suddenly come to an end when the rubber band breaks. Again humorously plumbing philosophical depths just hinted at by a brief text and minimally detailed art, the author of The Boring Book (2019) and There Must Be More Than That! (2020) takes readers on a journey that illuminates both a child’s fertile imagination and our own understanding of what does, or should, matter in life. This small, cute child—their delicately drawn face, like those of their family and others in the pictures, left uncolored—shows a healthy sense of priorities, too, as after a quiet moment of surprise, they leave the broken rubber band behind to search out a new spark for their dreams and adventures: “Mommy! Mommy! Can I have this paper clip?” (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A message to savor, delivered with a light touch and contagious glee. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-79721-492-4
Page Count: 52
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Accessible, reassuring and hopeful.
This endearing picture book about a timid boy who longs to belong has an agenda but delivers its message with great sensitivity.
Brian wants to join in but is overlooked, even ostracized, by his classmates. Readers first see him alone on the front endpapers, drawing in chalk on the ground. The school scenarios are uncomfortably familiar: High-maintenance children get the teacher’s attention; team captains choose kickball players by popularity and athletic ability; chatter about birthday parties indicates they are not inclusive events. Tender illustrations rendered in glowing hues capture Brian’s isolation deftly; compared to the others and his surroundings, he appears in black and white. What saves Brian is his creativity. As he draws, Brian imagines amazing stories, including a poignant one about a superhero with the power to make friends. When a new boy takes some ribbing, it is Brian who leaves an illustrated note to make him feel better. The boy does not forget this gesture. It only takes one person noticing Brian for the others to see his talents have value; that he has something to contribute. Brian’s colors pop. In the closing endpapers, Brian’s classmates are spread around him on the ground, “wearing” his chalk-drawn wings and capes. Use this to start a discussion: The author includes suggested questions and recommended reading lists for adults and children.
Accessible, reassuring and hopeful. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-582-46450-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2013
Another quirky take on the series theme that it’s cool to be kind.
The cool beans again step up to do a timorous fellow legume a fava…this time at the pool.
Will a rash decision to tackle the multistory super-slide lead to another embarrassing watery fail for our shy protagonist? Nope, for up the stairs right behind comes a trio of cool beans, each a different type and color, all clad in nothing but dark shades. They make an offer: “It’s not as scary if you go with friends!” As the knobby nerd explains once the thrilling ride down is done, “They all realized that I just needed some encouragement and support.” Just to make sure that both cool and uncool readers get the message, the narrator lets us know that “there are plenty of kind folks who have my back. They’re always there when I need them.” The beany bonhomie doesn’t end at the bottom of the slide, with all gliding down to the shallow end of the pool (“3 INCHES. NO DIVING”) for a splashy finale. This latest early reader starring characters from John and Oswald’s immensely popular Food Group series will be a hit with fans. Fun accessories, such as a bean who rocks pink cat-eye frames, add some pizzazz to the chromatically and somatotypically varied cast.
Another quirky take on the series theme that it’s cool to be kind. (Easy reader. 5-7)Pub Date: March 26, 2024
ISBN: 9780063329560
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
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