This picture book about an interspecies friendship has plenty of lessons for humans, too.
In the middle of a frozen ocean, curious Narwhal goes exploring.
At first, every wonderful thing he sees is somewhat familiar; he spies arctic char and cod, a seal, a caribou, and seabirds swooping through what appear to be the northern lights. Before he knows it, though, Narwhal has wandered so far that he can’t find a single other narwhal anywhere. After a close run-in with the propeller of a boat, a nervous Narwhal runs into a pod of white whales. Although none of them has a tusk, they do seem to be similar enough to Narwhal that they could be potential friends. As Narwhal spends more time with the whales, he becomes overwhelmed with their differences: Narwhal speaks a different language, doesn’t know the whales’ song, and eats different fish than they do. But then, slowly, Narwhal gets to know his new friends—and realizes that they have much more in common than he first believed. Based on a true story about a narwhal who wandered so far away from its arctic home that it ended up joining a pod of beluga whales, this rhyming story of a real-life friendship is compelling not only for its plot, but also for its underlying message about how diversity makes us stronger. The illustrations make use of a varied, watery color palette to give the story a truly marine feel.
This picture book about an interspecies friendship has plenty of lessons for humans, too. (note) (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-77164-620-8
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Greystone Kids
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
Safe to creep on by.
Carle’s famous caterpillar expresses its love.
In three sentences that stretch out over most of the book’s 32 pages, the (here, at least) not-so-ravenous larva first describes the object of its love, then describes how that loved one makes it feel before concluding, “That’s why… / I[heart]U.” There is little original in either visual or textual content, much of it mined from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. “You are… / …so sweet,” proclaims the caterpillar as it crawls through the hole it’s munched in a strawberry; “…the cherry on my cake,” it says as it perches on the familiar square of chocolate cake; “…the apple of my eye,” it announces as it emerges from an apple. Images familiar from other works join the smiling sun that shone down on the caterpillar as it delivers assurances that “you make… / …the sun shine brighter / …the stars sparkle,” and so on. The book is small, only 7 inches high and 5 ¾ inches across when closed—probably not coincidentally about the size of a greeting card. While generations of children have grown up with the ravenous caterpillar, this collection of Carle imagery and platitudinous sentiment has little of his classic’s charm. The melding of Carle’s caterpillar with Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE on the book’s cover, alas, draws further attention to its derivative nature.
Safe to creep on by. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-448-48932-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Whether spoken by a dinosaur or a human, this parental message clearly radiates “I’ve loved you from the start.”
The cover’s glowing golden stars are but a small hint of the parent-child love inside.
In this companion book to the creators’ I Love You, My Little Unicorn (2022), a world full of digitally created dinosaurs illustrated in eye-catching colors dominates the pages. From the start, it’s clear that dinosaur parents have the same hopes and dreams for their offspring that human parents do. Readers don’t have to be dinosaur fans to smile when the parent-and-child dinosaur pairs playfully interact and share loving glances. Take special note of the ankylosauruses, whose tails arc to form a heart beneath a sky filled with heart-shaped clouds. The text in verse shares words of unconditional parental love and support and wisdom (“please remember all these things / that I want you to know”), appropriate for humans and dinos alike. “Roar with all your might!” “Spread your wings and fly.” “Use your voice, and ask for help.” There’s even a caveat that some “days will be dark / and other shades of gray.” But “there’s always brightness up ahead.” While the loving sentiments in the storytelling are clear, words are sometimes inverted to make the rhyme work, and the verse doesn’t always follow a consistent meter, but prereading will let the story shine during quiet snuggle times.
Whether spoken by a dinosaur or a human, this parental message clearly radiates “I’ve loved you from the start.” (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781728268361
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2023
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