An imaginative, visually dynamic picture book that playfully touts the advantages—and even pleasures—of just getting things...
Who wouldn’t want a “handy stand-in” to take over life’s most tedious tasks? Lincoln Green, part-time cowboy, calls his mirror reflection You Know Who, and he makes him do you-know-what—the dirty work.
Lincoln Green can “grab some shuteye” and “shoot the breeze” while You Know Who waters the plants, does homework (albeit writing back-to-front as mirror reflections do), tidies up and takes on all the other chores Lincoln Green’s mom says “MUST BE DONE TODAY.” In Mackintosh’s stylized, cartoonish, pencil-sketch drawings, wishful thinking materializes in the most delightful way: Lincoln Green is identifiable as the carefree boy in the “L” sweater, and You Know Who is the industrious boy in the “reverse L” sweater. When You Know Who’s eventual rebellion starts to reflect badly on Lincoln Green, the petulant cowboy throws a boot at the mirror and cracks it. He can rake up the leaves himself! (Or perhaps—“Yip-yarr!”—his neighbor Billy will help rustle them up.) Surprise! Just tackling his tasks head-on proves easier—and more fun—than concocting an elaborate charade to avoid them, surely a lesson for all ages. The story jumps around a bit distractingly, but the premise is intriguing, and the whimsy quotient high, especially for keen-eyed observers.
An imaginative, visually dynamic picture book that playfully touts the advantages—and even pleasures—of just getting things done. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4197-0787-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: Aug. 27, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2013
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
An invitation to wonder, imagine and look at everything (humans included) in a new way.
A young boy sees things a little differently than others.
Noah can see patterns in the dust when it sparkles in the sunlight. And if he puts his nose to the ground, he can smell the “green tang of the ants in the grass.” His most favorite thing of all, however, is to read. Noah has endless curiosity about how and why things work. Books open the door to those answers. But there is one question the books do not explain. When the wind comes whistling by, where does it go? Noah decides to find out. In a chase that has a slight element of danger—wind, after all, is unpredictable—Noah runs down streets, across bridges, near a highway, until the wind lifts him off his feet. Cowman’s gusty wisps show each stream of air turning a different jewel tone, swirling all around. The ribbons gently bring Noah home, setting him down under the same thinking tree where he began. Did it really happen? Worthington’s sensitive exploration leaves readers with their own set of questions and perhaps gratitude for all types of perspective. An author’s note mentions children on the autism spectrum but widens to include all who feel a little different.
An invitation to wonder, imagine and look at everything (humans included) in a new way. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 14, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-60554-356-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Redleaf Lane
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2015
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