Readers will be forgiven for wondering if a plant can replace companionship.
In this French import (translated into English by its author), a bear that feels invisible undergoes a transformation.
Debut author/illustrator Metzger opens the story with exterior and interior settings rendered in pale gray/green watercolor and ink, a choice reinforcing the lonely silence surrounding the large, white bear that feels forgotten, unseen. His presence is distinguished only by the rain cloud perpetually above his head. One morning, a cluster of rosy dragonflies flits into his orbit—followed by a truck packed with the green and pink cargo of Madame Odette. Double-page spreads of the elderly white woman’s home and greenhouse, as well as vignettes of her many activities, show that she “lived in a cheerful world of color and sound.” Initially annoyed, the bear learns to accommodate the changes and ultimately help his new neighbor by transporting his cloud to her wilting garden. Then his new friend is gone: “She loved her dragonflies so much that she flew away with them.” Whether this is meant to be literal or metaphorical is open to interpretation, but the bear finds a potted flower on his doorstep and realizes that he has been seen. While the two characters’ contrasting lives are well delineated, the gray lasts a bit too long, the bear’s predicament is never explained, and the conclusion in which the friend departs will be unsatisfying for many children.
Readers will be forgiven for wondering if a plant can replace companionship. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-7352-6687-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Tundra Books
Review Posted Online: April 7, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.
The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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