A charming allegory about the creative process, albeit with some enigmatic details.
Boat makers with very different approaches struggle alone but find success when they work together.
Two young apprentices, Van and Minh, live in a town by the coast. Van loves to experiment with new approaches, while Minh wants things to be perfect. They both “[dream] of sailing across the sea together,” but upon graduating from their apprenticeships, they open separate shops on the opposite sides of town. Before they part, Van gifts Minh a golden chisel, and Minh gives Van a golden hammer. As the years pass, the young men toil fruitlessly. Van creates boat after boat with outlandish ideas that don’t quite work—one has “the wrong size balloon,” while another has “too many umbrellas.” Meanwhile, Minh doesn’t make any boats at all, though he talks about “finding the perfect tools” and “almost” finishing a boat. It’s not until they join their golden tools together that they finally build their dream boat. Much of Vo’s storytelling happens in the varied visual compositions, with just enough text on each page to push the plot along. Saturated pastel hues convey the island feel, while cartoony yet expressive characters bring to life a story about the challenges and rewards of creating art. Though the various objects and visual motifs appear to be symbolic, deciphering their meanings may take more patience than most young readers possess. Van and Minh are brown-skinned; other characters are diverse in skin tone.
A charming allegory about the creative process, albeit with some enigmatic details. (origami boat instructions) (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781646144495
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Levine Querido
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.
The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.
Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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