A charming reminder to stop and smell the roses with a child.
In perfect pairings, Tanco’s spare illustrations combine with brief text to show all the joys and wonders children introduce to their parents’ lives.
“I take you to places you’ve never seen…” shows the duo in their almost-empty living room, each in a separate cardboard box with a broom oar, colanders perched atop their heads, lost to imaginative play. With the turn of the page, “and get wet with you in the rain” pictures the two as the only bright spots of color amid a street lined with barely seen faces underneath stark black umbrellas. The father is gently smiling as he folds his umbrella, the yellow-slicker–clad child joyously dancing in a puddle. Especially appealing is the lesson on how to slow down: the two sit on the grass in a park watching a line of ants. The illustration choices have a definitely quirky European aesthetic, the scenes incorporating some Old World charm around the skinny, superelongated figures. Done in what appears to be pen and ink, pops of orange and yellow enliven the scenes and focus readers’ attention. The child is blond, the father dark-haired; both are paper-white. While readers may see a male pair, the pictures are fairly open, and these lessons could apply to any adult-child combination.
A charming reminder to stop and smell the roses with a child. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: April 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4521-4486-3
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2017
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
BOOK REVIEW
A visually striking, engaging picture book that sends the message that everyone counts.
A playful counting book also acts as a celebration of family and human diversity.
Shannon’s text is delivered in spare, rhythmic, lilting verse that begins with one and counts up to 10 as it presents different groupings of things and people in individual families, always emphasizing the unitary nature of each combination. “One is six. One line of laundry. One butterfly’s legs. One family.” Gomez’s richly colored pictures clarify and expand on all that the text lists: For “six,” a picture showing six members of a multigenerational family of color includes a line of laundry with six items hanging from it outside of their windows, as well as the painting of a six-legged butterfly that a child in the family is creating. While text never directs the art to depict diverse individuals and family constellations, Gomez does just this in her illustrations. Interracial families are included, as are depictions of men with their arms around each other, and a Sikh man wearing a turban. This inclusive spirit supports the text’s culminating assertion that “One is one and everyone. One earth. One world. One family.”
A visually striking, engaging picture book that sends the message that everyone counts. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 26, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-374-30003-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Frances Foster/Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
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