A feel-good journey of a picture book.
A visual metaphor for life’s journey presents a sunny, hopeful vision of both self-determination and community in this Brazilian import.
While some readers may encounter it as a straightforward picture-book depiction of many people floating along a river in a variety of boats and other watercraft, there’s ample potential for reading symbolic meaning into words and pictures. Simple phrases are juxtaposed with the vibrant acrylic illustrations (finished digitally) that show everyone traveling left to right with the page turns on calm waters that are the intense yellow of the sun. Boats, clothing, and other items are rendered in bright colors associated with the Caribbean, and most of the people have brown skin, with some sporting dreadlocks, others wearing head wraps, and still others with full, round Afro hairstyles. In an unusual choice for a picture book, most of the people are adults. Scattered environmental text painted on the boats (“Beautiful Smile”; “Everything is good here”; “I am happy”) reads like affirmations, while the main text provides gentle advice about living a good life: “You will have to search for… // …your own way / and your own rhythm… // …while continuing to steer your course.” This would make a refreshing alternative to Oh, the Places You’ll Go as a perennial gift to graduates.
A feel-good journey of a picture book. (Picture book. 4-adult)Pub Date: April 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-55498-977-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: Jan. 31, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
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
The whimsy is slight—the story is not—and both its interest and its vocabulary are for the youngest members of this age...
Beverly Cleary has written all kinds of books (the most successful ones about the irrepressible Henry Huggins) but this is her first fantasy.
Actually it's plain clothes fantasy grounded in the everyday—except for the original conceit of a mouse who can talk and ride a motorcycle. A toy motorcycle, which belongs to Keith, a youngster, who comes to the hotel where Ralph lives with his family; Ralph and Keith become friends, Keith gives him a peanut butter sandwich, but finally Ralph loses the motorcycle—it goes out with the dirty linen. Both feel dreadfully; it was their favorite toy; but after Keith gets sick, and Ralph manages to find an aspirin for him in a nearby room, and the motorcycle is returned, it is left with Ralph....
The whimsy is slight—the story is not—and both its interest and its vocabulary are for the youngest members of this age group. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 22, 1965
ISBN: 0380709244
Page Count: 180
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 16, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1965
BOOK TO SCREEN
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