Cummings (My Aunt Came Back, 1998, etc.) provides another glimpse of real life in this exuberant family story. Mother needs big sister, Amanda Lynne, to help with her toddler brother, so under mother’s watchful eye, Amanda Lynne spends the day baby-sitting. Eating, dressing, playing outdoors, bathing, and getting ready for bed—all the normal activities of a baby’s day—are humorously detailed in rhyme and illustration. The day ends with a quiet, bedtime scene—Amanda reading to baby; pussycat curled up in the bed; baby almost ready to sleep. And fun begins again the next morning. Mother’s refrain is “what an angel he can be,” but the illustrations show Amanda Lynne’s many frustrations with her active, not so angelic, little sibling. Each double-page spread is an amusing scene of Amanda and the baby, their toy-filled home and back yard. Mother is never seen in the pictures, but Cummings shows her hands or a bit of her face and the reader has the sense of a loving presence. Amanda’s expressive face reflects all the feelings of a nine- or ten-year-old when faced with a day spent with a baby who gets into everything, makes a mess, and chases the cat. The family’s pet cat, which appears in every scene, often echoes Amanda’s feelings with the most expressive feline eyes. Older siblings will really appreciate this one. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: May 31, 2000
ISBN: 0-688-14821-2
Page Count: 24
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2000
A sweet notion that falls flat.
A hit song reimagined as a book about parental love.
Featured in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn—Part 1, Perri’s “A Thousand Years” deals with the speaker’s fear of romantic love. In picture-book form, it explores a parent’s unwavering love for a child, who grows from an infant into a toddler over the course of the narrative. The caregiver expresses awe when the youngster learns to stand and fear that the child might fall while beginning to walk. “I have spent every day waiting for you,” the parent says. “Darling, don’t be afraid.” What the child might fear isn’t clear from the joyful balloon- and rainbow-filled illustrations. The story borders on cloying, and words that might work when sung and accompanied by music don’t sound fresh on the page: “Time goes by. / You grow ever stronger as you fly.” The refrain, however, is a lovely sentiment: “I have loved you for a thousand years. / I’ll love you for a thousand more.” Perri’s legion of fans may flock to this version, illustrated by Ruiz with sparkling stars, bubbles, and big-eyed toddlers, but it doesn’t hold together as a narrative or an ode, as it’s billed, and it’s a long way from the original song. The child is tan-skinned, the parent is lighter-skinned, and other characters are diverse.
A sweet notion that falls flat. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 1, 2025
ISBN: 9780593622599
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
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
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