Dazzling.
What if you could dream yourself into another animal?
A bright eye peeks from under a tree. Orange-on-blue shapes, first seen on the front endpapers, become a salamander’s patterned skin. An unseen narrator begins, “I had a dream I was a sleeping salamander… // until you came…and woke me from that dream.” The salamander becomes an octopus: “Bursts of wonder tingling down the minds of my arms /…until you came…and woke me from that dream.” Octopus becomes elephant becomes falcon becomes tiger. Wenzel’s creatures are full of personality and spirited energy—they telegraph their natures: secretive, undulating, fearsome, massive, tiny. Light and shadow, camouflage and plumage, bright colors and bold lines pop from the pages, the illustrations combining with the spare text to create a melodic pacing. The dreamer becomes other animals in an accelerating montage: “Then there I was. / And was, / and was / and was again.” Finally, there is a tan-skinned child “full of funny thoughts and comfort and family.” Here a snowy day of play gives way to striped pajamas, a warm blanket, and a dream. Caldecott winner Wenzel cultivates senses of empathy and imagination in this appreciation of the ways other creatures experience the world, resulting in a buoyantly reverent celebration of the myriad wonders and complexity of life on Earth. The simple poetry of the narrative creates a glorious conversation starter: Who is the dreamer? (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Dazzling. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316512534
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
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 sweet, tender and charming experience to read aloud or together.
A clueless duckling tries to make a new friend.
He is confused by this peculiar-looking duck, who has a long tail, doesn’t waddle and likes to be alone. No matter how explicitly the creature denies he is a duck and announces that he is a cat, the duckling refuses to acknowledge the facts. When this creature expresses complete lack of interest in playing puddle stomp, the little ducking goes off and plays on his own. But the cat is not without remorse for rejecting an offered friendship. Of course it all ends happily, with the two new friends enjoying each other’s company. Bramsen employs brief sentences and the simplest of rhymes to tell this slight tale. The two heroes are meticulously drawn with endearing, expressive faces and body language, and their feathers and fur appear textured and touchable. Even the detailed tree bark and grass seem three-dimensional. There are single- and double-page spreads, panels surrounded by white space and circular and oval frames, all in a variety of eye-pleasing juxtapositions. While the initial appeal is solidly visual, young readers will get the gentle message that friendship is not something to take for granted but is to be embraced with open arms—or paws and webbed feet.
A sweet, tender and charming experience to read aloud or together. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-375-86990-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Nov. 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2012
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