Dreamy.
An imaginary expedition to find a mythical sea creature.
Savage’s new book follows a similar storyline as her debut, The Search for the Giant Arctic Jellyfish (2023). Light-skinned Dr. Rose, an intrepid marine biologist, gathers a diverse crew to prove the existence of an elusive, legendary sea creature that resembles a giant squid, though its species is never identified. Carmella, as they call the beast, supposedly “roams the deepest, darkest oceans, lighting up the water with its magic.” To track the creature, Dr. Rose descends into the ocean in a submersible, along with brown-skinned pilot Anne and Stanley the dog. It’s not clear where this expedition takes place, but there are flamingoes on the ship’s deck and flying nearby. “Mile after mile, they see absolutely nothing at all,” but readers are in on Savage’s hide-and-seek game: Lurking above the submersible is a giant crimson tentacle likely belonging to Carmella. Dr. Rose and Anne don’t see the tentacle, but they delight in the oddball gossamer glowing white creatures floating around them, “some tiny, some spiny, some like squishy, shimmering jelly,” artfully and whimsically illustrated in ink and watercolor. The women keep searching but never glimpse what readers see as Carmella lurks below them, culminating in a beautiful spread of the submersible reflected in the eye of the beast. As with her previous book, Savage includes playful ship cutaways that show the activities of the crew on board.
Dreamy. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781536238976
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
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 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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