Marlana is fully drawn: blue hoodie, red skirt, yellow tights, dark blue boots. She inhabits a stark white background, and...
A heartbreaking work of staggering self-indulgence.
Marlana is fully drawn: blue hoodie, red skirt, yellow tights, dark blue boots. She inhabits a stark white background, and at her feet, in the park, she sees a little squiggle at the end of a single line of grass and pulls it. It comes up, unraveling the grass like loose yarn from a sweater, until the line of grass reaches a tree. “She wondered whether it was all connected, and whether she could make it disappear.” She pulls until the tree is gone. The line or thread goes on, and she enjoys pulling apart a palace and then a town, although “she wondered what the world would look like without them.” She pulls and pulls until there is nothing left. She turns around and sees a huge tangle of line. She figures she ought to put it all back, though "it would probably take a while." The end. The intellectual laziness of its non-ending is reflected in the art, as Eggers cannot bestir himself to draw the images as one continuous line, which would make more sense. The story has no child appeal (nor adult appeal, come to that) in its seeming role as the anti-Harold and the Purple Crayon. Maybe it's meant to be a metaphor for the creative process or for humankind's penchant for destruction; only Eggers knows for sure.Pub Date: June 7, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-936365-42-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: McSweeney's McMullens
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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