A wondrous wordless picture book that will make readers want to grab a sand bucket and head to the beach.
An idyllic day at the beach silently unfolds.
As they did in Over the Shop (2021), Lawson and Leng create ample space for the reader to supply the story. The artwork begins and ends with lovely vistas of sea gulls on a deserted beach and a White family—a mother, father, and three kids—arriving and departing by bus. An image of the older boy running through dunes and beach grass, waving his shirt like a flag, sets the tone of exuberant joy. Everyone on this beach is cheerful and relaxed. Readers see beachgoers of various ages, skin tones, and body types engaged in sundry activities, including swimming, wading, taking photos, and playing catch with a beach ball. The siblings build and rebuild a sand castle, molding, shaping, and decorating it with found treasures only to have it repeatedly destroyed by the tide or sunbathers. The parents don’t try to solve this problem, instead allowing the children to persist and decide whether and where to rebuild. The family has a picnic lunch and there is an encounter with a particularly assertive sea gull. Subtle changes in the position of the sun and the shrinking beach as the tide moves in signal the passage of time. Single-page and double-page montages consisting of rows of square and rectangular panels are used to compress time, highlight characters’ emotions, and create bridges between scenes. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A wondrous wordless picture book that will make readers want to grab a sand bucket and head to the beach. (Picture book. 2-7)Pub Date: May 10, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5362-0842-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
A syrupy tribute to mothers that may please fans of the series.
Another creature is on the loose.
The long-running series continues its successful formula with this Hallmark card of a book, which features bright illustrations and catchy rhymes. This time, the mythical creature the racially diverse children set out to catch is an absent mom who does it all (lists of descriptors include the words banker, caregiver, nurse, doctor, driver, chef, housekeeper, teacher, entertainer, playmate, laundry service, problem solver, handywoman, cleaner, and alarm clock) but doesn’t seem to have a job outside the home and is inexplicably a dinosaur. As the children prepare gifts and a meal for her, the text becomes an ode to the skills the Mamasaurus possesses (“Day or night she’s always there. / She meets every wish and need”) and values she instills (“Sometimes life can mean hard work,” “kindness matters,” and “what counts is doing your best”). This well-intentioned selection veers into cliche generously sprinkled with saccharine but manages to redeem itself with its appreciation for mothers and all that they may do. Endpapers include a “to” and “from” page framed in a heart, as well as a page where young gift givers or recipients can draw a picture of their Mamasaurus.
A syrupy tribute to mothers that may please fans of the series. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781728274300
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2024
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