A mediocre jump from song to picture book.
A lullaby about watching out for the ones you love.
An anthropomorphic full moon shines down on a White blond child in purple boots and a blue dress as they have adventures with their animal friends: a rabbit, a goose, and a little elephant. Their bicycle doesn’t need a headlight with the moon’s light, and they can see fine to row a boat out on the sea. (Though they sport helmets on the bike, there are no life jackets in sight.) The moon lets down a swing, and they ride it up to the pillowy clouds atop the moon. The final fantastical scene—“If I were the moon. / I’d fly you home / on outstretched wings”—shows the four friends riding atop a huge barn owl as it swoops them back home again. The last spread shows the reality: the child snuggled in bed with three stuffed animals, an owl taking off from a branch outside the bedroom window. While parents-to-be and those with very young children may feel comforted by the message in the song-turned–picture book, their children are not likely to get the message at all, especially since it is never clear who the I is referring to. They will be more drawn by the softly colored illustrations that seem lit from within by both the moon and the fireflies festooned throughout the pages. The joy on the characters’ faces is evident and infectious, though some of the verses are hard to read against the background. A website link allows readers to hear Terry’s song. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A mediocre jump from song to picture book. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: March 28, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-7643-6570-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Schiffer
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
As ephemeral as a valentine.
Daywalt and Jeffers’ wandering crayons explore love.
Each double-page spread offers readers a vision of one of the anthropomorphic crayons on the left along with the statement “Love is [color].” The word love is represented by a small heart in the appropriate color. Opposite, childlike crayon drawings explain how that color represents love. So, readers learn, “love is green. / Because love is helpful.” The accompanying crayon drawing depicts two alligators, one holding a recycling bin and the other tossing a plastic cup into it, offering readers two ways of understanding green. Some statements are thought-provoking: “Love is white. / Because sometimes love is hard to see,” reaches beyond the immediate image of a cat’s yellow eyes, pink nose, and black mouth and whiskers, its white face and body indistinguishable from the paper it’s drawn on, to prompt real questions. “Love is brown. / Because sometimes love stinks,” on the other hand, depicted by a brown bear standing next to a brown, squiggly turd, may provoke giggles but is fundamentally a cheap laugh. Some of the color assignments have a distinctly arbitrary feel: Why is purple associated with the imagination and pink with silliness? Fans of The Day the Crayons Quit (2013) hoping for more clever, metaliterary fun will be disappointed by this rather syrupy read.
As ephemeral as a valentine. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Dec. 24, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5247-9268-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.
Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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