Gentle and gorgeous.
An overtired lion can’t fall asleep.
Arlo’s lids droop. His eyes sag. He flops over a tree branch. But sleep eludes him no matter where he lies down. “The grass was too prickly, and the earth was too hard.…The sun was too hot, but the night was too cold.” Arlo’s downright exhausted—and then an owl sings him a quieting meditation: “Think about the places where you’d like to be, / the things that you’d do there and what you might see. / Relax your whole body, slow your breathing right down, / imagine you’re sinking into the soft ground.” (The melody is left to readers.) The song works! In the excitement and vigor that follows hours of sleep, Arlo accidentally wakes others, but it’s OK—they, too, can use the song. Rayner’s tale is never frenetic, not even early on: Arlo’s fatigue is of heavy, tousled woe, not crankiness. His mane—teeming with pencil lines, ink lines, watercolors, light blue and lavender bits, what looks like the residue from popped bubbles, and black and brown curvy zigzags—never looks busy; though nonrepresentational, it looks utterly organic (and spellbinding). Owl’s feathers are speckled, splotched, and splattered, using one palette in multiple patterns. Landscapes are alluringly tranquil, and Arlo’s own yellows and browns harmonize with dusk’s burnt oranges. Scale varies dramatically, always with purpose. The whiskers and eyelids of the sleeping lions of Arlo’s pride show, via the most delicate lines, that sleep is bliss. Pair with Deborah Freedman’s Shy (2016).
Gentle and gorgeous. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-68263-222-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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 stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
Pigeon finds something better to drive than some old bus.
This time it’s Santa delivering the fateful titular words, and with a “Ho. Ho. Whoa!” the badgering begins: “C’mon! Where’s your holiday spirit? It would be a Christmas MIRACLE! Don’t you want to be part of a Christmas miracle…?” Pigeon is determined: “I can do Santa stuff!” Like wrapping gifts (though the accompanying illustration shows a rather untidy present), delivering them (the image of Pigeon attempting to get an oversize sack down a chimney will have little ones giggling), and eating plenty of cookies. Alas, as Willems’ legion of young fans will gleefully predict, not even Pigeon’s by-now well-honed persuasive powers (“I CAN BE JOLLY!”) will budge the sleigh’s large and stinky reindeer guardian. “BAH. Also humbug.” In the typically minimalist art, the frustrated feathered one sports a floppily expressive green and red elf hat for this seasonal addition to the series—but then discards it at the end for, uh oh, a pair of bunny ears. What could Pigeon have in mind now? “Egg delivery, anyone?”
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781454952770
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
