A low-key tale of magic and friendship.
A fairy struggling to fly finds friendship with a kindhearted girl.
More than anything, Lily wants to soar “with the birds and the butterflies high above the treetops.” Lily’s well acquainted with “the beauty closer to the ground,” but each time she attempts to fly, she tumbles to the ground. Her discouragement is palpable. When she finds a quaint fairy house in the woods, she marvels at the chair made of twigs and the lovely lanterns. She soon learns that the house was made by a gentle young girl named Willow. Willow patiently supports Lily, bringing her a fairy-size trampoline and a tiny helmet. Lily still finds flying a challenge, but she’s bolstered by Willow’s presence. The illustrations portray a ballerinalike Lily, her curly hair in a bun, while Willow has a friendly and welcoming face. Filled with large-eyed characters, butterflies, glittery trails, and sun flares, the images feel almost like stills from an animated video. While Lily is the lead character in this story, in her author’s note, Jackson describes the bond with the human girl as the focus and adds that the story reflects her own sense of wonder at the natural world. The plotline is somewhat quiet—a quality that children must cultivate if they hope to entice fairies of their own—while the messages of compassion and helping others achieve their dreams come through strongly. Willow and Lily are Black.
A low-key tale of magic and friendship. (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781665941174
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2024
A wandering effort, happy but pointless.
The perfect book for kids who love dragons and mild tacos.
Rubin’s story starts with an incantatory edge: “Hey, kid! Did you know that dragons love tacos? They love beef tacos and chicken tacos. They love really big gigantic tacos and tiny little baby tacos as well.” The playing field is set: dragons, tacos. As a pairing, they are fairly silly, and when the kicker comes in—that dragons hate spicy salsa, which ignites their inner fireworks—the silliness is sillier still. Second nature, after all, is for dragons to blow flames out their noses. So when the kid throws a taco party for the dragons, it seems a weak device that the clearly labeled “totally mild” salsa comes with spicy jalapenos in the fine print, prompting the dragons to burn down the house, resulting in a barn-raising at which more tacos are served. Harmless, but if there is a parable hidden in the dragon-taco tale, it is hidden in the unlit deep, and as a measure of lunacy, bridled or unbridled, it doesn’t make the leap into the outer reaches of imagination. Salmieri’s artwork is fitting, with a crabbed, ethereal line work reminiscent of Peter Sís, but the story does not offer it enough range.
A wandering effort, happy but pointless. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 14, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3680-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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