The minimal text and particular plot twists will garner appreciation from struggling readers; endearing characters and a...
This Swedish import features a child in need of a friend.
Much of the narration is wordless, depicted in detailed black-and-white panels. Readers watch as Adrian is bullied at school and, later, is unable to respond when the teacher utters the titular phrase during reading. Adrian and time freeze, and the child imagines flying on a trapeze. Viewers will begin to understand that in contrast to the penciled scenes, these colorful gouache-and-ink spreads signal either a new chapter or joy. Entitled “Before I Met Heidi,” this first chapter ends with Adrian at home with loving but distracted parents. Enter Heidi, with the size and shagginess of an Irish wolfhound. The two bond outside the ice cream store, and Heidi follows Adrian home. Adrian reads well when touching her. Those with a low threshold for blurred reality/fantasy boundaries or deus ex machina solutions may be frustrated; others, including, perhaps, those who’ve benefited from “Reading with Rover”–type programs, will be all in. In the third section, child and dog encounter Heidi’s rightful owner, a woman with a cane. At her dwelling, she explains that she is nearly blind; seeing her performing on the trapeze in a scrapbook photograph, Adrian says “I can read to you.” Repeated perusals yield further clues to the child’s love of the circus and yearning for a pet. Some characters of color can be spotted in the background, but the primary characters are all white.
The minimal text and particular plot twists will garner appreciation from struggling readers; endearing characters and a fresh design will attract many more. (Graphic fiction. 6-8)Pub Date: May 7, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-77306-149-8
Page Count: 72
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
A hamster with an irritating lack of social skills fails to alienate a cast of small woodland creatures in this strange import. Looking more like an undersized koala in Martin’s simply drawn scenes, Hamster opens with a wish that “in the heavens and on earth [a]ll will praise an extraordinary hamster,” then goes on to explain in his diary how much everyone adores him, to disinvite Rabbit to his birthday party, to blow off a shy confession from Mole and so on—until at the culminating party he takes a bow after belittling everyone’s gifts. Meanwhile, the animals gather to mull such Big Questions as whether worms can shed tears of joy. Within each of her large sequential panels, the illustrator surrounds small figures with generous quantities of flat, uniformly colored green ground and blue sky, punctuated by the occasional tree or shrub. All that wide-open space focuses attention on the dialogue, which sometimes offers insights into the character of each member of the cast but too often falls flat: “Squirrel…a nut. Just one? Hmmm, not so great, so let’s just forget about it.” Yes, let’s. (Graphic picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: July 20, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-59270-093-6
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Enchanted Lion Books
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The dream phantasms of a high-spirited narrator intersect, even crowd, reality, but the stream-of-consciousness text makes for a rambling, radically personal tale. Playful images of a stuffed lion, trampoline, purple shoes, and a cat named Pine-Cone take hold in a young girl’s imagination, despite her “old” mother who makes her go to bed when she’d rather “stay up early” and a big sister with a cranky disposition. At home, she likes counting flea bites and pretending to be a worm, but is afraid of the dark and going to Grade One. The second half of the book takes off in a separate first-day-of school direction. Wild dreams precede the big day, which includes bullies on the playground and instant friend Chelsea. The childlike articulations of the text are endearing, but not quite of universal interest, and don’t add up to a compelling story; children may more readily warm to Gay’s illustrations, which include a dreamlike flying cat, a menacing hot dog, and an uproarious stuffed toy looming over everyday domestic scenes. (Picture book. 4-7)
Pub Date: Feb. 15, 1999
ISBN: 1-55143-107-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1999
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