This wordless tale speaks volumes.
Children are alike all over.
Ensconced in a treehouse, a child removes a book from a frog-shaped backpack and begins to read. Noticing something odd in the distance, the child shelters behind a tree and witnesses a spaceship landing. Two older extraterrestrials and a youngster step out. After enjoying an elaborate picnic and games, the visitors fly off in their spaceship but leave an object: an intricately decorated golden disk with transparent, turnable overlays: pages? Suddenly, the young extraterrestrial, who’s apparently been left behind, reappears; the kids communicate nonverbally. The Earth child returns the disk to its owner and, retrieving the book from the backpack, gifts it to the visitor. The spaceship returns, the kids hug farewell, and the space kid departs. Later, the earthling describes the incident to the rest of the family; the pet cat gazes skyward. Elsewhere in the universe, the outer-space youngster and family share the Earth volume. Finally, the Earth kid draws pictures of the disk, the space youngster savors the prized earthly souvenir…and the cat makes an astounding discovery in the backpack. This wordless offering emphasizes that kids understand kids, no matter their origin, and that books have universal appeal—literally. Readers will love poring over the clearly composed artwork’s luminous, wondrously imaginative, interplanetary details. The dark-haired earthling and one parent are light-skinned; the other parent is brown-skinned. The orange-faced space child’s hair resembles the sun’s rays. The extraterrestrial adults appear to be seniors; one uses a stylized wheelchair. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
This wordless tale speaks volumes. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 15, 2023
ISBN: 9781662651335
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Minerva/Astra Books for Young Readers
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted...
Reinvention is the name of the game for two blobs of clay.
A blue-eyed gray blob and a brown-eyed brown blob sit side by side, unsure as to what’s going to happen next. The gray anticipates an adventure, while the brown appears apprehensive. A pair of hands descends, and soon, amid a flurry of squishing and prodding and poking and sculpting, a handsome gray wolf and a stately brown owl emerge. The hands disappear, leaving the friends to their own devices. The owl is pleased, but the wolf convinces it that the best is yet to come. An ear pulled here and an extra eye placed there, and before you can shake a carving stick, a spurt of frenetic self-exploration—expressed as a tangled black scribble—reveals a succession of smug hybrid beasts. After all, the opportunity to become a “pig-e-phant” doesn’t come around every day. But the sound of approaching footsteps panics the pair of Picassos. How are they going to “fix [them]selves” on time? Soon a hippopotamus and peacock are staring bug-eyed at a returning pair of astonished hands. The creative naiveté of the “clay mates” is perfectly captured by Petty’s feisty, spot-on dialogue: “This was your idea…and it was a BAD one.” Eldridge’s endearing sculpted images are photographed against the stark white background of an artist’s work table to great effect.
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted fun of their own . (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-30311-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
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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