There is no playbook for mourning, but this tale provides a gentle guide for the unthinkable.
A look at death, grief, and the messy emotions they evoke.
Readers are informed that this story “is intended to be read aloud by an adult to a child.” Six key points are outlined on how to do so. Then we meet our young protagonist and her parents, all tan-skinned. Mom loves sewing stuffed toys with her daughter, who narrates, but she soon gets sick and passes away. Grief gets buried, the father and child grow distant from each other, and Mom’s belongings are tucked into boxes. A ball of yarn, its threads coming undone, proves a helpful metaphor for the girl’s feelings. Only when she screams, “I WANT IT TO BE LIKE IT WAS BEFORE!” does Dad intercede, and the two begin the healing process together. The bulk of the book wraps itself in the girl’s isolation and misery, only coming to practical advice and heartfelt platitudes in the last few pages. Backmatter asks readers to reflect on their own feelings. Earnest though a bit didactic, the book is buoyed by the skillful illustrations, which visualize vigorous and strong emotions. Originally published in Belgium and the Netherlands and translated from Dutch, the story would have benefitted from concentrating more on how the girl and her father intend to rebuild their relationship. Nonetheless, for those experiencing similar situations, the book offers a map for unmarked territory.
There is no playbook for mourning, but this tale provides a gentle guide for the unthinkable. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 22, 2024
ISBN: 9798890630834
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Clavis
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2024
Safe to creep on by.
Carle’s famous caterpillar expresses its love.
In three sentences that stretch out over most of the book’s 32 pages, the (here, at least) not-so-ravenous larva first describes the object of its love, then describes how that loved one makes it feel before concluding, “That’s why… / I[heart]U.” There is little original in either visual or textual content, much of it mined from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. “You are… / …so sweet,” proclaims the caterpillar as it crawls through the hole it’s munched in a strawberry; “…the cherry on my cake,” it says as it perches on the familiar square of chocolate cake; “…the apple of my eye,” it announces as it emerges from an apple. Images familiar from other works join the smiling sun that shone down on the caterpillar as it delivers assurances that “you make… / …the sun shine brighter / …the stars sparkle,” and so on. The book is small, only 7 inches high and 5 ¾ inches across when closed—probably not coincidentally about the size of a greeting card. While generations of children have grown up with the ravenous caterpillar, this collection of Carle imagery and platitudinous sentiment has little of his classic’s charm. The melding of Carle’s caterpillar with Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE on the book’s cover, alas, draws further attention to its derivative nature.
Safe to creep on by. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-448-48932-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Whether spoken by a dinosaur or a human, this parental message clearly radiates “I’ve loved you from the start.”
The cover’s glowing golden stars are but a small hint of the parent-child love inside.
In this companion book to the creators’ I Love You, My Little Unicorn (2022), a world full of digitally created dinosaurs illustrated in eye-catching colors dominates the pages. From the start, it’s clear that dinosaur parents have the same hopes and dreams for their offspring that human parents do. Readers don’t have to be dinosaur fans to smile when the parent-and-child dinosaur pairs playfully interact and share loving glances. Take special note of the ankylosauruses, whose tails arc to form a heart beneath a sky filled with heart-shaped clouds. The text in verse shares words of unconditional parental love and support and wisdom (“please remember all these things / that I want you to know”), appropriate for humans and dinos alike. “Roar with all your might!” “Spread your wings and fly.” “Use your voice, and ask for help.” There’s even a caveat that some “days will be dark / and other shades of gray.” But “there’s always brightness up ahead.” While the loving sentiments in the storytelling are clear, words are sometimes inverted to make the rhyme work, and the verse doesn’t always follow a consistent meter, but prereading will let the story shine during quiet snuggle times.
Whether spoken by a dinosaur or a human, this parental message clearly radiates “I’ve loved you from the start.” (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781728268361
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2023
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