Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Morstad (When I Was Small) continues her celebration of childhood innocence, painting children whose dreamy but often somber expressions give them a particularly doll-like quality. Fragmentary captions ("How to go fast"; "How to feel the breeze") are matched with pictures that show children providing examples, crossing the page on scooters and stilts or zooming downhill on a bicycle. The best moments occur when the captions are interpreted in distinctively childlike ways: "How to make a sandwich" is a pileup of children and sofa cushions. "How to make new friends" shows a boy drawing a group of shock-headed stick figures in chalk on the blacktop. And "How to wash your socks" accompanies children dancing in a puddle in their stocking feet. The design and typography are straight out of the '60s, and the children's classic clothing and timeless circumstances-no cars, no cell phones, no schools, no parents-will draw nostalgic adults as well as children. Intentionally or not, it's a reminder of an era when children were permitted time just to stand and stare. Ages 4-8. Agent: Emily van Beek, Folio Literary Management. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-A treatise on "how-tos," including how to go fast, how to see the wind, and how to be brave. More imaginative selections include how to wash your face (look up in the rain), how to watch where you're going (follow the movements of your shadow), and how to wonder (gaze at the night sky). Morstad's spare text and whimsical fine-line drawings with pastel enhancements portray children encountering new experiences enriched with whimsy and quiet wit. This guide will engage and delight youngsters. Ideal for one-on-one sharing, it will be read again and again.-Carol Connor, Cincinnati Public Schools, OH (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Smart, clean design and a text built around unpunctuated phrases offer room to pause, ponder and discuss in this book of quiet joy. Ample white space foregrounds a multicultural cast, whose patterned clothing, props and minimal, but visually exciting, settings take center stage. In the opening spread, "how to go fast," readers consider options as eight youngsters whoosh by, one riding a scooter, another navigating stilts, a third sporting butterfly wings. The parade's leader is nearly off the page. "How to see the wind" prompts conversation about the kites, grass and hair shown at various angles--and the metaphysical question itself. Morstad explores topics of interest to children, from "staying close" (two girls sharing one braid) to disappearing--a scene in which meaning comes first from the curtained image; the text is nearly invisible. She intersperses colorful backgrounds, as well as single- and double-spread compositions for an overall effect that elicits anticipation at every turn. As in this Canadian's illustrations for the work of other authors (Caroline Woodward's Singing Away the Dark, 2010; Sara O'Leary's When I Was Small, 2012), the characters' delicate features exhibit an absorption in their activities that simultaneously signals the seriousness and satisfaction of concentration. The "be happy" conclusion portrays unself-conscious movement--including that initial runner, leaving the book. In these inventive scenarios, children will recognize themselves and find new ways to be. (Picture book. 2-6)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
