A cotton-candy puff of a story: sweet but entirely insubstantial
Gilbert watches the big ghosts float off to be-spook dark, creepy forests and towering castles, but he decides to find a homey, cozy house to haunt instead.
The first lights he sees in the darkness are not windows but a “gobble-me wolf” that, luckily, doesn’t see Gilbert but goes on its way. A path shining in the darkness turns out to be a “squeeze-me snake,” and curling smoke from a chimney is actually a “sizzle-me dragon.” Poor Gilbert ends up in a big castle despite himself, where he is so ineffectual that a dog chases him up the stairs…where he finds a tiny, (miraculously) populated castle on a table in the attic that’s exactly the right size for him. While children will appreciate Gilbert’s Goldilocks-like desire for the “just right,” the story is a chain of anticlimactic, often illogical plot points related in wordplay that borders on twee. Lindsay’s mixed-media illustrations employ what looks to be tissue paper for ghosts and wisps of fog against a forest of sharply outlined trees and branches. Gilbert is shaped like an upside-down teardrop that floats through the mildly threatening landscape. Even quite young children will wonder at his denseness in mistaking gleaming yellow eyes, an obviously scaled serpent and smoky breath that emanates from ground level for windows, a path and chimney smoke.
A cotton-candy puff of a story: sweet but entirely insubstantial . (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Aug. 5, 2014
ISBN: 978-142318039-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2014
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
Still, this young boy’s imagination is a powerful force for helping him deal with life, something that should be true for...
Oliver, of first-day-of-school alligator fame, is back, imagining adventures and still struggling to find balance between introversion and extroversion.
“When Oliver found his egg…” on the playground, mint-green backgrounds signifying Oliver’s flight into fancy slowly grow larger until they take up entire spreads; Oliver’s creature, white and dinosaurlike with orange polka dots, grows larger with them. Their adventures include sharing treats, sailing the seas and going into outer space. A classmate’s yell brings him back to reality, where readers see him sitting on top of a rock. Even considering Schmid’s scribbly style, readers can almost see the wheels turning in his head as he ponders the girl and whether or not to give up his solitary play. “But when Oliver found his rock… // Oliver imagined many adventures // with all his friends!” This last is on a double gatefold that opens to show the children enjoying the creature’s slippery curves. A final wordless spread depicts all the children sitting on rocks, expressions gleeful, wondering, waiting, hopeful. The illustrations, done in pastel pencil and digital color, again make masterful use of white space and page turns, although this tale is not nearly as funny or tongue-in-cheek as Oliver and His Alligator (2013), nor is its message as clear and immediately accessible to children.
Still, this young boy’s imagination is a powerful force for helping him deal with life, something that should be true for all children but sadly isn’t. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: July 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4231-7573-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2014
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