The team that listed 39 Uses for a Friend (not reviewed) finds fewer uses for mothers, but at least as inventive ones. The text consists entirely of one- or two-word numbered descriptors of mom activities, and the waggish pictures illustrate these with verve and humor. The range, which all moms and mom-like products will recognize, include “chauffeur,” “hairstylist,” “personal shopper,” and “answering service.” The pictures, created in “Flashe paint and ink on bristol board,” feature sturdy figures with spindly arms, round heads, inventively patterned clothing, and squiggly facial features on a white background. This allows the illustrator free reign: when a Mom is #10, “encyclopedia,” she lectures to her son with a butterfly alight on her finger and a broad-brimmed hat on her head, a few flowers suggesting the outdoors. Mom as #27, “bank,” has a mouth pressed into a straight and long-suffering line; Mom as #29, “hand holder,” sports a long braid, a polka-dot hat, and an accomplished air as she and daughter view their snowman. Perhaps a favorite is #12, “beach chair,” where Mom under an umbrella reads her magazine while her kid is neatly pillowed, stretched out on her lap and torso. Doughty’s minimal art allows for moms and offspring of many colors and hairstyles, including a suggestion of parents who may not always be the same hue as their children: Mom as pitcher, catcher, and retriever, numbers 21 through 23 (even losing her baseball cap in the process) is particularly apt and adept. Funny and oddly tender, moms and kids alike should enjoy continuing the list. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-399-23862-X
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet notion that falls flat.
A hit song reimagined as a book about parental love.
Featured in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn—Part 1, Perri’s “A Thousand Years” deals with the speaker’s fear of romantic love. In picture-book form, it explores a parent’s unwavering love for a child, who grows from an infant into a toddler over the course of the narrative. The caregiver expresses awe when the youngster learns to stand and fear that the child might fall while beginning to walk. “I have spent every day waiting for you,” the parent says. “Darling, don’t be afraid.” What the child might fear isn’t clear from the joyful balloon- and rainbow-filled illustrations. The story borders on cloying, and words that might work when sung and accompanied by music don’t sound fresh on the page: “Time goes by. / You grow ever stronger as you fly.” The refrain, however, is a lovely sentiment: “I have loved you for a thousand years. / I’ll love you for a thousand more.” Perri’s legion of fans may flock to this version, illustrated by Ruiz with sparkling stars, bubbles, and big-eyed toddlers, but it doesn’t hold together as a narrative or an ode, as it’s billed, and it’s a long way from the original song. The child is tan-skinned, the parent is lighter-skinned, and other characters are diverse.
A sweet notion that falls flat. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 1, 2025
ISBN: 9780593622599
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
Give this child’s-eye view of a day at the beach with an attentive father high marks for coziness: “When your ball blows across the sand and into the ocean and starts to drift away, your daddy could say, Didn’t I tell you not to play too close to the waves? But he doesn’t. He wades out into the cold water. And he brings your ball back to the beach and plays roll and catch with you.” Alley depicts a moppet and her relaxed-looking dad (to all appearances a single parent) in informally drawn beach and domestic settings: playing together, snuggling up on the sofa and finally hugging each other goodnight. The third-person voice is a bit distancing, but it makes the togetherness less treacly, and Dad’s mix of love and competence is less insulting, to parents and children both, than Douglas Wood’s What Dads Can’t Do (2000), illus by Doug Cushman. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: May 23, 2005
ISBN: 0-618-00361-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2005
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