Confronted with illness, a terrible storm, and nearby woods filled with wild animals, Lloyd must reach deep inside himself to find the courage to do what he needs to do to save the life of his unnamed cousin. Lloyd’s parents decide that it would be safer for him to spend some time in the country with relatives rather than live in their city home in the middle of the flu epidemic of 1918. Frightened of traveling alone; of being forgotten at the train station; and then of the howling coyotes in the woods surrounding his aunt and uncle’s home, Lloyd decides to try and sing a song to himself to make him less fearful. After meeting his brand-new cousin, the obvious choice seems to be “Rock-a-bye Baby.” Unfortunately, Lloyd’s groundless fears become too real as his aunt and uncle become ill with the flu and he must travel alone with the baby to a distant neighbor’s house to find milk. A thunderstorm makes the trip even more daunting, and then the horse-drawn cart lands in a ditch. Singing loudly, Lloyd struggles on foot to the end of his journey. Darkly colored paintings rendered on textured paper illustrate this turn-of-the-century tale of brave pioneer families struggling in an uncertain time, but they fail the story. Static and gloomy, they look so old-fashioned that they will turn off the intended audience. Too bad, because the story is a gripping one set in a period and place not often seen in American picture books. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2002
ISBN: 1-55143-221-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2002
A sweet, if oft-told, story.
A plush toy rabbit bonds with a boy and watches him grow into adulthood.
The boy receives the blue bunny for his birthday and immediately becomes attached to it. Unbeknownst to him, the ungendered bunny is sentient; it engages in dialogue with fellow toys, giving readers insight into its thoughts. The bunny's goal is to have grand adventures when the boy grows up and no longer needs its company. The boy spends many years playing imaginatively with the bunny, holding it close during both joyous and sorrowful times and taking it along on family trips. As a young man, he marries, starts a family, and hands over the beloved toy to his toddler-aged child in a crib. The bunny's epiphany—that he does not need to wait for great adventures since all his dreams have already come true in the boy's company—is explicitly stated in the lengthy text, which is in many ways similar to The Velveteen Rabbit (1922). The illustrations, which look hand-painted but were digitally created, are moderately sentimental with an impressionistic dreaminess (one illustration even includes a bunny-shaped cloud in the sky) and a warm glow throughout. The depiction of a teenage male openly displaying his emotions—hugging his beloved childhood toy for example—is refreshing. All human characters present as White expect for one of the boy’s friends who is Black.
A sweet, if oft-told, story. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72825-448-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2022
An inspiring story of young boy's compelling desire to read. As a boy of nine, Booker works in a salt mine from the dark of early morning to the gloom of night, hungry for a meal, but even hungrier to learn to read. Readers follow him on his quest in Malden, Virginia, where he finds inspiration in a man ``brown as me'' reading a newspaper on a street corner. An alphabet book helps, but Booker can't make the connection to words. Seeking out ``that brown face of hope'' once again, Booker gains a sense of the sounds represented by letters, and these become his deliverance. Bradby's fine first book is tautly written, with a poetic, spiritual quality in every line. The beautifully executed, luminous illustrations capture the atmosphere of an African-American community post-slavery: the drudgery of days consumed by back- breaking labor, the texture of private lives conducted by lantern- light. There is no other context or historical note about Booker T. Washington's life, leaving readers to piece together his identity. Regardless, this is an immensely satisfying, accomplished work, resonating first with longing and then with joy. (Picture book. 5- 8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-531-09464-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orchard
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1995
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