Sensitive text is paired with uneven artwork in this picture book designed to help children cope with the loss of a grandparent.
Jake, a pre-school or kindergarten-aged tyke, loves visiting his grandfather, Poppy, on the farm. Farming is no longer a tradition in his family, and according to Jake’s mother, when Poppy is “gone,” the family farm will be, too. Jake doesn’t understand where Poppy might be going though his mother assures him that Poppy won’t be going anywhere for a long time. But the conversation is prophetic—that night, Jake’s mother receives the phone call that Poppy has died. As Jake’s mother explains, Jake imagines a heart attack as a violent conflict between a heart and weapons. He struggles to understand what it means that Poppy is dead, and his mother patiently attempts to offer words that will make sense. Jake watches the contrary behavior of the adults, who say that it is only Poppy’s body in the casket, but still speak to the burial plot to say farewell. Jake’s questions are true to a child’s perspective, and his mother’s answers are thoughtful; she offers him comfort without absolutes, always prefacing her explanations about what happens after death within the context of her beliefs and being unafraid to admit that she doesn’t have all the answers. The conclusion, where Jake and his mother imagine Poppy’s combine as a constellation, is touching. Meyerson, a reverend, handles the religious aspects lightly, while presenting them from a Christian perspective. Illustrator Searcy’s choice of style appears designed to appeal to young readers, but often the faces are unevenly depicted, making the images off-putting. However, her depictions of Jake’s imagined scenes, drawn in a childlike style rather than painted like the other images, are spot on, and her abstract backgrounds are lovely. The choice of a parchment style background behind the images and the use of a papyrus font are distracting, but ultimately blend into the story and images. Books that address grief are always in need, and Meyerson’s gentle words and child-centered perspective will provide comfort to young readers.
Pub Date: Jan. 15, 2012
ISBN: 978-0615567754
Page Count: 34
Publisher: Beth Meyerson
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
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