A picture book with a good premise but one whose execution needs to be reimagined.
First published in Italy in 2021, this picture book offers 24 short rhyming passages describing children’s hopes and dreams.
Solid sand-colored backgrounds allow the cheerful, colorful mixed-media paper collage illustrations to take center stage. At each vignette poem’s conclusion, the exclamatory refrain “imagine!” is emphasized in enlarged font and a contrasting color. Children and adults with different skin tones and anthropomorphized animals dramatize the central metaphors of the narrative. Perhaps because of the translation by Muir, some of the verses do not rhyme well: “Give up the guns, all the bombs banished / By a bilingual chorus / Imagine!” Although the book is narrated from the perspective of children, there is still a danger that it oversimplifies solutions to traumatic events and complex issues like mental illness, immigration crises, social divisions, and unemployment. What is most troubling is the inconsistent tone resulting from a haphazard mixing of serious topics with such light fare as wanting calamari for lunch. For example, sandwiched between a poem wishing away traffic noise and another about having pirates over for dinner is a lament about “adult wars” in the Middle East. The abrupt shifts in content may entertain some readers or may be jarring and confusing. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A picture book with a good premise but one whose execution needs to be reimagined. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 22, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-63655-014-5
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Red Comet Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 24, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2022
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.
Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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