A vividly illustrated and clever work with an accessible moral.
A girl seeks help from a young detective who solves her problem by drawing on an old proverb in Rawls’ debut picture book set in an unspecified African country.
A stressed girl named Fara bumps into Sule, a pint-sized young detective, as she’s buying supplies for a class party. “How will I get it all done in time?” she asks Sule, who answers with a proverb: “When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion.” Fara has no idea what that means, but before she can ask him, he takes off into the market with her list. She asks people if they’ve seen Sule, and just as Fara’s about to despair of ever organizing the party, she realizes that Sule has given her friends parts of the list to share the responsibility. The proverb’s meaning—that working together solves a problem—was in front of her all along. The Sule character first appeared in animated shorts by the author, and the story in this new medium, related in straightforward, present-tense language, will be perfect for lap readers or confident elementary readers. Brotzman’s interactive, seek-and-find cartoon illustrations make great use of the colors of the marketplace; the items (and Sule himself) are well defined and fun to locate, and silly details are sure to elicit giggles.
A vividly illustrated and clever work with an accessible moral.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-73554-790-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Enter House Publishers
Review Posted Online: Feb. 27, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
PROFILES
A book that will make young dog-owners smile in recognition and confirm dogless readers' worst suspicions about the mayhem caused by pets, even winsome ones. Sam, who bears passing resemblance to an affable golden retriever, is praised for fetching the family newspaper, and goes on to fetch every other newspaper on the block. In the next story, only the children love Sam's swimming; he is yelled at by lifeguards and fishermen alike when he splashes through every watering hole he can find. Finally, there is woe to the entire family when Sam is bored and lonely for one long night. Boland has an essential message, captured in both both story and illustrations of this Easy-to-Read: Kids and dogs belong together, especially when it's a fun-loving canine like Sam. An appealing tale. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-8037-1530-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1996
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions.
Ellis, known for her illustrations for Colin Meloy’s Wildwood series, here riffs on the concept of “home.”
Shifting among homes mundane and speculative, contemporary and not, Ellis begins and ends with views of her own home and a peek into her studio. She highlights palaces and mansions, but she also takes readers to animal homes and a certain famously folkloric shoe (whose iconic Old Woman manages a passel of multiethnic kids absorbed in daring games). One spread showcases “some folks” who “live on the road”; a band unloads its tour bus in front of a theater marquee. Ellis’ compelling ink and gouache paintings, in a palette of blue-grays, sepia and brick red, depict scenes ranging from mythical, underwater Atlantis to a distant moonscape. Another spread, depicting a garden and large building under connected, transparent domes, invites readers to wonder: “Who in the world lives here? / And why?” (Earth is seen as a distant blue marble.) Some of Ellis’ chosen depictions, oddly juxtaposed and stripped of any historical or cultural context due to the stylized design and spare text, become stereotypical. “Some homes are boats. / Some homes are wigwams.” A sailing ship’s crew seems poised to land near a trio of men clad in breechcloths—otherwise unidentified and unremarked upon.
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6529-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
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