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CATCH MY BREATH

Name: CATCH MY BREATH
Author: Paul Briggs
ISBN: 978-1-4847-2837-6

From the Walt Disney Animation Studios Artist Showcase series

by Paul Briggs ; illustrated by Paul Briggs ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 19, 2017

No need to wait with bated breath.

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Briggs delivers the fourth title in the Walt Disney Animation Studios Artist Showcase series, a musing on familiar turns of phrase.

When the narrator’s mother prompts the child to “catch your breath,” the child pauses to wonder “Where would it go?!” Narrated by a child entirely washed in yellow with straight, cropped hair, a hoodie, and pants, the book wastes no time in employing “fun sayings about breath.” These are by turns endearing (“Mom says Grandpa grumbles under his breath…. / Maybe my breath is there?”) and groan-inducing (“Oh no!— / I can’t hold my / breath underwater!” the child exclaims as the breath literally eludes outstretched fingers). Personified as a floppy, smiling red-pink entity with the consistency of a semi-inflated balloon, the breath enjoys the chase. Some jokes will require explaining: “I’ve heard I can buy babies’ breath at a nursery,” says the child to a doctor in a maternity unit. A muted palette and the sparing use of color work to softly highlight characters and dialogue (conveyed in speech bubbles). Loosely drawn black-and-white backgrounds, as well as small details such as secondary characters’ mid-20th-century-yet-undated attire, create a nostalgia that is unsurprising for Disney. However, this nostalgia combined with jokes that rely on a young child’s naiveté about wordplay may leave readers wondering who this book is really meant for.

No need to wait with bated breath. (author’s note) (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-4847-2837-6

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2017

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S HEALTH & DAILY LIVING

- BOOK REVIEW
THE MEANEST OF MEANIES
by Kristin Hensley & Jen Smedley ; illustrated by Paul Briggs

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: June 21, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

- BOOK REVIEW
FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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A BIKE LIKE SERGIO'S

by Maribeth Boelts ; illustrated by Noah Z. Jones ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 4, 2016

Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on...

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Continuing from their acclaimed Those Shoes (2007), Boelts and Jones entwine conversations on money, motives, and morality.

This second collaboration between author and illustrator is set within an urban multicultural streetscape, where brown-skinned protagonist Ruben wishes for a bike like his friend Sergio’s. He wishes, but Ruben knows too well the pressure his family feels to prioritize the essentials. While Sergio buys a pack of football cards from Sonny’s Grocery, Ruben must buy the bread his mom wants. A familiar lady drops what Ruben believes to be a $1 bill, but picking it up, to his shock, he discovers $100! Is this Ruben’s chance to get himself the bike of his dreams? In a fateful twist, Ruben loses track of the C-note and is sent into a panic. After finally finding it nestled deep in a backpack pocket, he comes to a sense of moral clarity: “I remember how it was for me when that money that was hers—then mine—was gone.” When he returns the bill to her, the lady offers Ruben her blessing, leaving him with double-dipped emotions, “happy and mixed up, full and empty.” Readers will be pleased that there’s no reward for Ruben’s choice of integrity beyond the priceless love and warmth of a family’s care and pride.

Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on children. (Picture book. 5-8)