While full of warmth, this picture book unfortunately loses sight of its young audience.
When Olive discovers “all the lost things” in a mysterious place beneath the city, she decides to bring back hope, memory, and humor for those above.
Alone for a walk in a busy city, young Olive hears a “peculiar sound” emanating from an open manhole. Curious, Olive climbs down to discover a little old lady who organizes “all the lost things from all over the city.” Boxes and boxes and boxes are stacked up, labeled with the expected (pencils, phones) and the unexpected (will power, appetite). Debut author/illustrator Canby’s handwritten text and playfully childlike illustrations blend together nicely. Children will enjoy the way Olive takes matters into her own hands, scooping up a jarful of memory to help her grandfather; however, young readers may have trouble understanding the intangible things that people have lost: nerve, energy, temper. When Olive brings back a jar bursting with hope, the resulting goodwill is reflected only in happy colors and speech bubbles; newly hopeful humans are nowhere to be seen—a missed opportunity to include a diverse range of characters in this otherwise all-white book. Moreover, the book doesn’t leave the realm of metaphor. Spreading hope is important, but readers are not given a sense of how they might do this themselves.
While full of warmth, this picture book unfortunately loses sight of its young audience. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4413-1804-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Peter Pauper Press
Review Posted Online: April 28, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions.
Ellis, known for her illustrations for Colin Meloy’s Wildwood series, here riffs on the concept of “home.”
Shifting among homes mundane and speculative, contemporary and not, Ellis begins and ends with views of her own home and a peek into her studio. She highlights palaces and mansions, but she also takes readers to animal homes and a certain famously folkloric shoe (whose iconic Old Woman manages a passel of multiethnic kids absorbed in daring games). One spread showcases “some folks” who “live on the road”; a band unloads its tour bus in front of a theater marquee. Ellis’ compelling ink and gouache paintings, in a palette of blue-grays, sepia and brick red, depict scenes ranging from mythical, underwater Atlantis to a distant moonscape. Another spread, depicting a garden and large building under connected, transparent domes, invites readers to wonder: “Who in the world lives here? / And why?” (Earth is seen as a distant blue marble.) Some of Ellis’ chosen depictions, oddly juxtaposed and stripped of any historical or cultural context due to the stylized design and spare text, become stereotypical. “Some homes are boats. / Some homes are wigwams.” A sailing ship’s crew seems poised to land near a trio of men clad in breechcloths—otherwise unidentified and unremarked upon.
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6529-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
An invitation to wonder, imagine and look at everything (humans included) in a new way.
A young boy sees things a little differently than others.
Noah can see patterns in the dust when it sparkles in the sunlight. And if he puts his nose to the ground, he can smell the “green tang of the ants in the grass.” His most favorite thing of all, however, is to read. Noah has endless curiosity about how and why things work. Books open the door to those answers. But there is one question the books do not explain. When the wind comes whistling by, where does it go? Noah decides to find out. In a chase that has a slight element of danger—wind, after all, is unpredictable—Noah runs down streets, across bridges, near a highway, until the wind lifts him off his feet. Cowman’s gusty wisps show each stream of air turning a different jewel tone, swirling all around. The ribbons gently bring Noah home, setting him down under the same thinking tree where he began. Did it really happen? Worthington’s sensitive exploration leaves readers with their own set of questions and perhaps gratitude for all types of perspective. An author’s note mentions children on the autism spectrum but widens to include all who feel a little different.
An invitation to wonder, imagine and look at everything (humans included) in a new way. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 14, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-60554-356-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Redleaf Lane
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2015
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