A delicious tale with loads of girl appeal is satisfying for mothers and daughters (and brothers) alike. A dark-haired, freckle-faced mom tells her blonde daughter how, before she was her mother, she had a best friend named Ruby, a dog named Eileen, and a mom who could suspend fruit in Jell-O. She and Ruby loved to make noise, singing while they skated down the sidewalk, or tap-dancing on garbage can lids. And she loved shoes, even wearing her favorite cowboy boots to cousin Sylvia’s wedding. “I wasn’t always your mother,” letting her eat frosting roses off her birthday cake. When Mom was a girl, she told her brother that flowers were for girls so that she could eat the frosting roses off his birthday cake. She named her doll and her teddy bear and her velvet seal Katie, but now, “I am your mother, and you are my only Katie.” Pham (Which Hat Is That?, 2002, etc.), whose rich, homey watercolors are as gemütlich as could be, has done wonderful things with the faces. Readers can see that honey-haired Katie closely resembles her golden-haired grandmother, and that all three generations have the same wide, bowed mouth. Mom-as-a-kid wears braids, as does her best friend Ruby, who is black, and the contrasts and likenesses between those two girls are adorable. Love, comfort, and joy spill from these pages in sweet waves. It will no doubt inspire lots of similar stories in its readers. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-15-201464-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2003
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
Nice enough but not worth repeat reads.
Emma deals with jitters before playing the guitar in the school talent show.
Pop musician Kevin Jonas and his wife, Danielle, put performance at the center of their picture-book debut. When Emma is intimidated by her very talented friends, the encouragement of her younger sister, Bella, and the support of her family help her to shine her own light. The story is straightforward and the moral familiar: Draw strength from your family and within to overcome your fears. Employing the performance-anxiety trope that’s been written many times over, the book plods along predictably—there’s nothing really new or surprising here. Dawson’s full-color digital illustrations center a White-presenting family along with Emma’s three friends of color: Jamila has tanned skin and wears a hijab; Wendy has dark brown skin and Afro puffs; and Luis has medium brown skin. Emma’s expressive eyes and face are the real draw of the artwork—from worry to embarrassment to joy, it’s clear what she’s feeling. A standout double-page spread depicts Emma’s talent show performance, with a rainbow swirl of music erupting from an amp and Emma rocking a glam outfit and electric guitar. Overall, the book reads pretty plainly, buoyed largely by the artwork. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Nice enough but not worth repeat reads. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: March 29, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-35207-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022
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