Review by Booklist Review
The ironically named Whimsy is a young girl stuck with the fearful expression of a much older person because she is compelled to tow five heavy, bowling-ball-like burdens everywhere she goes. When she tries hiding them beneath the rug, she just trips on them. Stowing them up a tree results in the weakened limb knocking her flat. Her many failed efforts lead to a crucial revelation: instead of getting rid of them, she must carve them into not-so-heavy pieces that can then be used for much lighter and smaller things, such as marbles for her friend or seeds to grow a peach tree. The metaphor of learning to deal with your burdens, which will seem obvious and trite to adults, will prove utterly opaque to most children (if they are aware of it at all), rendering the story a complicated discussion piece. But the haunted figure of Whimsy herself struggling across Kraulis' scratchy, eerie illustrations of Whimsy in her home, on the beach, and in a field offers a distinctive, if melancholy, aesthetic that may appeal to some readers for a quiet and unusual browse.--Karp, Jesse Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
The story in Kraulis's debut takes a backseat to her moody, stylish artwork. The heroine, Whimsy, is a blonde, marionettelike figure with heavy-lidded eyes and pursed red lips, and she's saddled with a collection of objects that look like cannonballs. They're the "heavy things" of the title, a metaphor for the troubles that plague her. Kraulis draws trees, fields, and water for Whimsy to swim in, but there's no place to get rid of the heavy things. Whimsy attaches them to a kite, but they won't fly away, and they sink when she tries to "float them to sea." When she discovers that she can address her heavy things one at a time and break them into small pieces-a symbol, presumably, for breaking problems down and realizing that they're not monolithic-things improve. "Whimsy... planted the pieces in the garden where they grew into a beautiful peach tree." The most striking spreads show Whimsy underwater, the surface refracting glittering light above her. Despite the book's practical and encouraging advice, though, it's the gloomy moments that linger. Ages 4-6. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-With a spare narrative and beautiful illustrations, this picture book tackles the subject of what to do when things seem bleak. Whimsy, a child in a mustard-and-white-striped dress and red boots, finds herself weighed down. Her "heavy things," which are rendered as black balls that look a bit like yarn, will not go away. She tries to hide them under a rug, but soon trips over them. She hoists them onto a tree, but the branch breaks. After more trial and error, and tears, "she just couldn't make the heavy things disappear." Eventually, though, Whimsy finds a solution: "she could break the heavy things into smaller pieces," and, when she does, she discovers that "heavy things are just light things in disguise." The oils and graphite spreads gently convey the bleakness the narrator feels and subtly shift in color as Whimsy becomes free of her burdens. While the message might be lost on many young readers, adults will find this title helpful for initiating discussion with anxious or sad youngsters, or to help children understand sadness.-Brooke Rasche, La Crosse Public Library, WI (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 Horn Book Review
Whimsy unsuccessfully tries to hide the "heavy things" that bother her under the carpet, up in a tree, and other places. She learns that breaking the heavy things into smaller pieces allows her to feel lighter. The metaphorical story, with ultra-stylized oil and graphite illustrations, attempts to express a concrete approach to managing emotions or problem solving, but the delivery falls short. (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A worthy idea is lost in this ungentle metaphor for dealing with big problems in everyday life. Poor Whimsy. She's incapable of happiness thanks to the presence of four heavy, round "things" she must carry around with her (they look rather like bowling balls, but they are not attached to her in any visible way). She attempts to do away with her problems in a variety of unsuccessful sequences. After much deliberation, Whimsy changes tactics and breaks them apart, turning each heavy thing into something useful or beautiful: marbles, peach pits, etc. The story has good-enough bones, yet the writing is not up to the plot. Too on-the-nose to be an allegory and too didactic to pull off its message, this heavy-handed tale is helped not one jot by Kraulis' oil-and-graphite images. Resembling nothing so much as a short 45-year-old in both her appearance and problems, Whimsy comes off as a poorly rendered escapee from an Etsy store rather than a living breathing character. Additionally, the muted palette of greens and blues, with the occasional yellow and red, shows little modulation after Whimsy's transformation, keeping the emotional tone flat. The message--tackle your problems by breaking them into smaller pieces--may be a worthy one, but breaking down this book only yields more and more problems for author and readers alike. (Picture book. 4-8)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
