Empathetic and eminently useful.
A child-friendly introduction to COVID-19.
The co-authors calmly and gently walk children through coronavirus basics, from how it’s spread to how it’s changed their lives and the lives of those around them. They hew mostly to colloquial terms rather than medical jargon, referring to respiratory virus particles as “[germs that] float through the air in tiny drops of water,” for instance, but when necessary, important vocabulary is introduced and defined within the narrative. Getting better is emphasized, as is the fact that most cases of COVID-19 are relatively mild, but the co-authors do not dodge the truth: “Sometimes even [a ventilator] might not be enough to help them get better, and if that happens, then sadly they might die.” Readers are directly enlisted to prevent this with exhortations to wash hands frequently, even after disposing of a tissue, “because the coronavirus lives in your snot.” To this sober, frank narrative Scheffler adds cartoon vignettes, striking a delicate balance between his trademark goofiness and the gravity of the circumstances. While the term “social distancing” is never introduced, the concept is, along with explanations of why readers may not visit relatives in person (“Hi, Granny,” one brown-skinned child says, waving to a face on the computer screen) or go to school (two white children evince diametrically opposed reactions). Scheffler’s cast is thoughtfully diverse, including several characters with visible disabilities and one woman who covers her hair. The book’s British origins can be seen in the absence of masks among the general population when in public, so readers in regions where they have been adopted may need further explanation about local rules or norms. The book is available as a free PDF download from the publisher. It is laid out in double-page spreads, which display with forbiddingly small type on a tablet, but on a desktop computer legibility is decent at 60% of original size. Links to resources, mostly U.S.–based, appear in the backmatter.
Empathetic and eminently useful. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5362-1921-0
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Nosy Crow
Review Posted Online: April 16, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
PERSPECTIVES
Hundreds of pages of unbridled uplift boiled down to 40.
From two Nobel Peace Prize winners, an invitation to look past sadness and loneliness to the joy that surrounds us.
Bobbing in the wake of 2016’s heavyweight Book of Joy (2016), this brief but buoyant address to young readers offers an earnest insight: “If you just focus on the thing that is making / you sad, then the sadness is all you see. / But if you look around, you will / see that joy is everywhere.” López expands the simply delivered proposal in fresh and lyrical ways—beginning with paired scenes of the authors as solitary children growing up in very different circumstances on (as they put it) “opposite sides of the world,” then meeting as young friends bonded by streams of rainbow bunting and going on to share their exuberantly hued joy with a group of dancers diverse in terms of age, race, culture, and locale while urging readers to do the same. Though on the whole this comes off as a bit bland (the banter and hilarity that characterized the authors’ recorded interchanges are absent here) and their advice just to look away from the sad things may seem facile in view of what too many children are inescapably faced with, still, it’s hard to imagine anyone in the world more qualified to deliver such a message than these two. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Hundreds of pages of unbridled uplift boiled down to 40. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-48423-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2022
A poem about the pandemic with vivid illustrations and a strong environmental message.
During a period of quarantine, people discover new ways to live—and new lessons about how to care for the planet—in this debut picture book.
In this work’s poem, O’Meara describes lockdowns experienced by many across the world during the first days of the Covid-19 pandemic. Beginning with the title phrase, the author discusses quiet activities of solitude and togetherness as well as more boisterous ways of interacting. These times of being apart give people a new perspective, and when they reunite, “they grieved their losses, / and made new choices” to restore the planet. The spare verse allows the illustrations by Di Cristofaro and Pereda to take center stage. The colorful, slightly abstract cartoons depict a rainbow of people and pets, many of them living in apartments but some residing in larger, greener spaces. Images of nature healing show the author’s vision of hope for the future. While this was written in March and originally published as an online poem, the lack of an explicit mention of the reason behind the lockdowns (and the omission of the experiences of essential workers) could offer readers an opportunity to imagine a planetary healing beyond the pandemic that inspired the piece. The accessible prose and beautiful images make this a natural selection for young readers, but older ones may appreciate the work’s deeper meaning.
A poem about the pandemic with vivid illustrations and a strong environmental message.Pub Date: Nov. 10, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-73476-178-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tra Publishing
Review Posted Online: Sept. 4, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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