In this story, rainbows feel like an overworked symbol rather than a genuine mark of Pride.
LGBTQ+ advocates Jordan and Hendrix urge readers to celebrate their unique selves.
Everyone has a rainbow, “made up of all the things that make you happy.” As the book begins, a pale-skinned, black-haired child takes part in a variety of activities: having a bubble bath, trying on different clothes (including overalls and a dress), and attending a Pride parade alongside adults of various races, abilities, and gender expressions. The mood shifts as the protagonist notices a sad-looking child curled up amid gray rain clouds. “Everyone has their own rainbow, but not everyone feels comfortable letting theirs shine,” we’re told. Readers are reminded “that the sun will appear again soon” and that rainbows appear “when the sun shines through the rain.” Though rainbows and other queer symbols are everywhere in Chen’s dreamy, color-strewn artwork, the text sticks to generalities. Pride is described as “the feeling that wraps around you like a cozy hug” and “when you are loved for being yourself.” It’s a laudable, reassuring sentiment, but without context from adults, young readers won’t grasp the message that all LGBTQ+ identities should be celebrated, though backmatter fills in some gaps. The jewel-toned illustrations are engaging and bright, but the tale’s many platitudes (“Just be true to who you are!”) leave the book feeling cliched.
In this story, rainbows feel like an overworked symbol rather than a genuine mark of Pride. (note for caregivers, reflection questions, glossary) (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: May 17, 2024
ISBN: 9781464224188
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2024
As ephemeral as a valentine.
Daywalt and Jeffers’ wandering crayons explore love.
Each double-page spread offers readers a vision of one of the anthropomorphic crayons on the left along with the statement “Love is [color].” The word love is represented by a small heart in the appropriate color. Opposite, childlike crayon drawings explain how that color represents love. So, readers learn, “love is green. / Because love is helpful.” The accompanying crayon drawing depicts two alligators, one holding a recycling bin and the other tossing a plastic cup into it, offering readers two ways of understanding green. Some statements are thought-provoking: “Love is white. / Because sometimes love is hard to see,” reaches beyond the immediate image of a cat’s yellow eyes, pink nose, and black mouth and whiskers, its white face and body indistinguishable from the paper it’s drawn on, to prompt real questions. “Love is brown. / Because sometimes love stinks,” on the other hand, depicted by a brown bear standing next to a brown, squiggly turd, may provoke giggles but is fundamentally a cheap laugh. Some of the color assignments have a distinctly arbitrary feel: Why is purple associated with the imagination and pink with silliness? Fans of The Day the Crayons Quit (2013) hoping for more clever, metaliterary fun will be disappointed by this rather syrupy read.
As ephemeral as a valentine. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Dec. 24, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5247-9268-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2021
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SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
Not enough tricks to make this a treat.
Another holiday title (How To Catch the Easter Bunny by Adam Wallace, illustrated by Elkerton, 2017) sticks to the popular series’ formula.
Rhyming four-line verses describe seven intrepid trick-or-treaters’ efforts to capture the witch haunting their Halloween. Rhyming roadblocks with toolbox is an acceptable stretch, but too often too many words or syllables in the lines throw off the cadence. Children familiar with earlier titles will recognize the traps set by the costume-clad kids—a pulley and box snare, a “Tunnel of Tricks.” Eventually they accept her invitation to “floss, bump, and boogie,” concluding “the dance party had hit the finale at last, / each dancing monster started to cheer! / There’s no doubt about it, we have to admit: / This witch threw the party of the year!” The kids are diverse, and their costumes are fanciful rather than scary—a unicorn, a dragon, a scarecrow, a red-haired child in a lab coat and bow tie, a wizard, and two space creatures. The monsters, goblins, ghosts, and jack-o'-lanterns, backgrounded by a turquoise and purple night sky, are sufficiently eerie. Still, there isn’t enough originality here to entice any but the most ardent fans of Halloween or the series. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Not enough tricks to make this a treat. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72821-035-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
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