Peaceful and reverent, this is a book for all families to share as they cuddle closely together.
Human, animal, and plant babies are all connected to the world that exists under the glowing moon each night.
In this warm bedtime story, a brown-skinned baby is born to a tan-skinned mother and a brown-skinned father who already have an older brown-skinned child with curly hair. The poetic text reminds children that the moon is always there, watching over the world and all its inhabitants. “When your mama was a baby, when your daddy was a baby, when your pet cricket was a baby—the moon remembers.” The artwork shows little ones snuggling with, reaching for, and playing with the smiling moon. The moon has been there forever, even welcoming the dinosaurs, and now it welcomes everything from little tomatoes to bunnies, owlets to infants, as it once greeted their parents. Speaking directly to children, the words are soothing and sweet. The soft multimedia illustrations, incorporating monoprint, gouache, watercolor, and collage, appropriately focus on night scenes, with an especially beautiful double-page spread at the end bringing together flora, fauna, and the human family (who are barely discernable), with a moonlit river flowing through the landscape. The endpapers show the phases of the moon, which may spark curiosity to learn about this phenomenon. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Peaceful and reverent, this is a book for all families to share as they cuddle closely together. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: May 9, 2023
ISBN: 9780358682325
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 7, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
Parents of toddlers starting school or day care should seek separation-anxiety remedies elsewhere, and fans of the original...
A sweetened, condensed version of the best-selling picture book, The Kissing Hand.
As in the original, Chester Raccoon is nervous about attending Owl’s night school (raccoons are nocturnal). His mom kisses him on the paw and reminds him, “With a Kissing Hand… / We’ll never be apart.” The text boils the story down to its key elements, causing this version to feel rushed. Gone is the list of fun things Chester will get to do at school. Fans of the original may be disappointed that this board edition uses a different illustrator. Gibson’s work is equally sentimental, but her renderings are stiff and flat in comparison to the watercolors of Harper and Leak. Very young readers will probably not understand that Owl’s tree, filled with opossums, a squirrel, a chipmunk and others, is supposed to be a school.
Parents of toddlers starting school or day care should seek separation-anxiety remedies elsewhere, and fans of the original shouldn’t look to this version as replacement for their page-worn copies. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-933718-77-4
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Tanglewood Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A heartwarming story about facing fears and acceptance.
A boy with wings learns to be himself and inspires others like him to soar, too.
Norman, a “perfectly normal” boy, never dreamed he might grow wings. Afraid of what his parents might say, he hides his new wings under a big, stuffy coat. Although the coat hides his wings from the world, Norman no longer finds joy in bathtime, playing at the park, swimming, or birthday parties. With the gentle encouragement of his parents, who see his sadness, Norman finds the courage to come out of hiding and soar. Percival (The Magic Looking Glass, 2017, etc.) depicts Norman with light skin and dark hair. Black-and-white illustrations show his father with dark skin and hair and his mother as white. The contrast of black-and-white illustrations with splashes of bright color complements the story’s theme. While Norman tries to be “normal,” the world and people around him look black and gray, but his coat stands out in yellow. Birds pop from the page in pink, green, and blue, emphasizing the joy and beauty of flying free. The final spread, full of bright color and multiracial children in flight, sets the mood for Norman’s realization on the last page that there is “no such thing as perfectly normal,” but he can be “perfectly Norman.”
A heartwarming story about facing fears and acceptance. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: May 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-68119-785-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
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