Timely, reassuring, and optimistic…for readers in too many locales, very optimistic.
A collective pro bono wish for an end to social distancing.
Giving visual expression to R.J. Palacio’s opening sentiment that rainbows “are always nearby, somewhere beyond our grasp and yet never really beyond our reach,” the racially and culturally diverse (if all U.S.–based) contributors either incorporate rainbows into their full-spread scenes or creatively use a full spectrum palette. Nearly everyone narrowly sticks to the common theme in their actual subjects, however. Elise Parsley leads off with a backyard soiree: “I cannot wait to yak with my neighbors, / and laugh with my neighbors, / and snarf up toasted marshmallows / with my neighbors.” Others echo the feeling with scenes of children throwing a beach ball (Brian Biggs), juggling huge ice cream cones (Molly Idle), dancing around a birthday cake (Sarah Jacoby), or crowding onto a lap (Claire Keane). One simply enjoys “sitting next to strangers on the bus” (Magdalena Mora). Lane Smith thinks outside the box: “Stuck inside, I was forced to put my moon mission on hold,” writes a smiling, brown-skinned young astronaut aboard a spaceship that has been spectacularly tricked out in paint and collage. “At least I had time to rethink my rocket’s paint job.” Oge Mora does go for a broader vision (“My rainbow is a warm hug”) with a tender adult-child clinch, and so likewise Vashti Harrison, depicting a lone child hugging the Earth. Unlike the table of contributors, the art is not arranged alphabetically, and the artists’ bios are, at best, cursory, so the focus throughout is on the art and the warm feelings. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-16-inch double-page spreads viewed at 88 % of actual size.)
Timely, reassuring, and optimistic…for readers in too many locales, very optimistic. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: July 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-37521-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: July 8, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted...
Reinvention is the name of the game for two blobs of clay.
A blue-eyed gray blob and a brown-eyed brown blob sit side by side, unsure as to what’s going to happen next. The gray anticipates an adventure, while the brown appears apprehensive. A pair of hands descends, and soon, amid a flurry of squishing and prodding and poking and sculpting, a handsome gray wolf and a stately brown owl emerge. The hands disappear, leaving the friends to their own devices. The owl is pleased, but the wolf convinces it that the best is yet to come. An ear pulled here and an extra eye placed there, and before you can shake a carving stick, a spurt of frenetic self-exploration—expressed as a tangled black scribble—reveals a succession of smug hybrid beasts. After all, the opportunity to become a “pig-e-phant” doesn’t come around every day. But the sound of approaching footsteps panics the pair of Picassos. How are they going to “fix [them]selves” on time? Soon a hippopotamus and peacock are staring bug-eyed at a returning pair of astonished hands. The creative naiveté of the “clay mates” is perfectly captured by Petty’s feisty, spot-on dialogue: “This was your idea…and it was a BAD one.” Eldridge’s endearing sculpted images are photographed against the stark white background of an artist’s work table to great effect.
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted fun of their own . (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-30311-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
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