An impressive and delightful combination of visual and verbal storytelling evokes empathy and identification with the young...
A girl’s time “in service” in a London house offers young readers a glimpse of life below-stairs in 1911.
Daisy Dobbs is very young when she leaves home to take the position as scullery maid her mother has found for her in a fine London town house. Elderly sisters, the Misses Simms, are her employers, but it is the cook and the parlor maid who tell Daisy what to do. Friendly Mabel Simms, a grown niece visiting from America just in time for the coronation of George V, becomes Daisy’s champion. Mabel intercedes to let Daisy borrow books from her aunts’ library. Mabel defends Daisy against the aunts’ outrage when, left alone on the coronation day, she constructs a tricolor decoration from the laundry pile—including the elderly sisters’ red-flannel bloomers—and hangs it from a window in a burst of celebratory feeling. And Mabel finds a way to salvage her aunts’ dignity and yet free Daisy to go back home and attend school after Daisy heroically saves the household from a kitchen fire. Daisy comes across as a determined little soul in her mob cap and sturdy shoes. Hughes’ ink, gouache, and watercolor art offers details both small and broad, perfectly pitched to young readers. Capturing Daisy’s experience, vignettes of the girl at work toting and scrubbing give way to a full-page illustration of Daisy at rest in her garret bedroom, reading.
An impressive and delightful combination of visual and verbal storytelling evokes empathy and identification with the young heroine. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: June 9, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-7323-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.
In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.
Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780063387843
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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