A sweet, inclusive picture book about imagining loved ones together.
In rhyming verse, Hoyt’s timely picture book explores the theme of being distanced from loved ones.
The story opens with a young child with blue eyes, pale skin, and brown hair, ball and glove nearby, imagining a loved one with brown skin and curly hair who is far away. “Oh, the fun things we’d do!” the child states, proceeding to imagine all of those fun events. Whether it’s drawing with chalk and singing lullabies or doing something a little more out of the box, like going on a safari or observing dinosaurs, the activities are perfect child suggestions. Hoyt offers both realistic and pretend play options, and the uncredited digital cartoon illustrations feature a wonderfully wide variety of people: same-aged friends play together, grandparents dance with grandchildren, and younger adults pair with children. The pictured loved ones frequently share the same features, but they sometimes don’t, showing that loving someone doesn’t have to be a matter of genetic similarity but can be chosen family. The emphasis on togetherness includes being together apart; one image of a young blond child emphasizes that time can be spent “through visits or letters, video chats, or a phone call.” Hoyt’s rhyming phrases feature a simple vocabulary and scan well throughout. While the poetry is broad enough to encompass families or friends who are separated, the timing of publication during the Covid-19 pandemic makes the words have even greater resonance.
A sweet, inclusive picture book about imagining loved ones together.Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-228-83607-0
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Tellwell Talent
Review Posted Online: Feb. 13, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A lushly illustrated homage to librarians who provide a welcome and a home away from home for all who enter.
A love letter to libraries.
A Black child, with hair in two puffballs tied with yellow ribbons, a blue dress with a Peter Pan collar, and black patent leather Mary Janes, helps Grandmother with the housework, then, at Grandmother’s suggestion, heads to the library. The child’s eagerness to go, with two books under an arm and one in their hand, suggests that this is a favorite destination. The books’ wordless covers emphasize their endless possibilities. The protagonist’s description of the library makes clear that they are always free to be themselves there—whether they feel happy or sad, whether they’re reading mysteries or recipes, and whether they feel “quick and smart” or “contained and cautious.” Robinson’s vibrant, carefully composed digital illustrations, with bright colors that invite readers in and textures and patterns in every image, effectively capture the protagonist’s passion for reading and appreciation for a space where they feel accepted regardless of disposition. In her author’s note, Giovanni states that she spent summers visiting her grandmother in Knoxville, Tennessee, where she went to the Carnegie Branch of the Lawson McGhee Library. She expresses gratitude for Mrs. Long, the librarian, who often traveled to the main library to get books that Giovanni could not find in their segregated branch. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A lushly illustrated homage to librarians who provide a welcome and a home away from home for all who enter. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-358-38765-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Versify/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
SEEN & HEARD
IN THE NEWS
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions.
Ellis, known for her illustrations for Colin Meloy’s Wildwood series, here riffs on the concept of “home.”
Shifting among homes mundane and speculative, contemporary and not, Ellis begins and ends with views of her own home and a peek into her studio. She highlights palaces and mansions, but she also takes readers to animal homes and a certain famously folkloric shoe (whose iconic Old Woman manages a passel of multiethnic kids absorbed in daring games). One spread showcases “some folks” who “live on the road”; a band unloads its tour bus in front of a theater marquee. Ellis’ compelling ink and gouache paintings, in a palette of blue-grays, sepia and brick red, depict scenes ranging from mythical, underwater Atlantis to a distant moonscape. Another spread, depicting a garden and large building under connected, transparent domes, invites readers to wonder: “Who in the world lives here? / And why?” (Earth is seen as a distant blue marble.) Some of Ellis’ chosen depictions, oddly juxtaposed and stripped of any historical or cultural context due to the stylized design and spare text, become stereotypical. “Some homes are boats. / Some homes are wigwams.” A sailing ship’s crew seems poised to land near a trio of men clad in breechcloths—otherwise unidentified and unremarked upon.
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6529-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
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