Droll entertainment that calls out for an international tea party.
A very proper queen goes on a world tour, visiting children who know both how to make tea and how to entice a royal to come out of her protective shell.
Resembling Victoria in stature and Carroll’s Red Queen in temperament, the white monarch finds herself unhappy with the tea brewed by her butler, James (also white). Traveling with her trusty manservant by hot air balloon in search of a better brew, she meets Noriko of Japan, Sunil of India, and Rana of Turkey. She not only drinks the tea found in those countries, but she even helps to brew the drink and has an adventure in friendship in each place. Although the queen communicates her disdain for such activities to James, and James dutifully informs each child, she eventually consents to snuggle Noriko’s kittens, dribble Sunil’s soccer ball, and dance with Rana. At the end, the queen invites the children to her garden and prepares the tea herself. The charm of this picture book is to be found in its repetitive language. Each voyage is told in almost the same wording, but in each sequence, the queen does a little more to make the tea, until she is quite self-sufficient and capable of enjoying human relationships. The amusing colored-pencil illustrations show the queen as she changes from her buttoned-up personality with proper hairdo created by her maids to a free spirit who does her own haphazard coiffure.
Droll entertainment that calls out for an international tea party. (author’s note) (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4677-3904-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Carolrhoda
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Pedestrian.
Mr. Brown can’t help with farm chores because his shoes are missing—a common occurrence in his household and likely in many readers’ as well.
Children will be delighted that the titular Mr. Brown is in fact a child. After Mr. Brown looks in his closet and sorts through his other family members’ shoes with no luck, his father and his siblings help him search the farm. Eventually—after colorful pages that enable readers to spot footwear hiding—the family gives up on their hunt, and Mr. Brown asks to be carried around for the chores. He rides on his father’s shoulders as Papa gets his work done, as seen on a double-page spread of vignettes. The resolution is more of a lesson for the adult readers than for children, a saccharine moment where father and son express their joy that the missing shoes gave them the opportunity for togetherness—with advice for other parents to appreciate those fleeting moments themselves. Though the art is bright and cheerful, taking advantage of the setting, it occasionally is misaligned with the text (for example, the text states that Mr. Brown is wearing his favorite green shirt while the illustration is of a shirt with wide stripes of white and teal blue, which could confuse readers at the point where they’re trying to figure out which family member is Mr. Brown). The family is light-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Pedestrian. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 14, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-5460-0389-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: WorthyKids/Ideals
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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