Review by New York Times Review
MY NANA NEVER explained to us why she'd chosen to go by a more culturally neutral shorthand for "grandmother" instead of the customary - and irresistible - Greek word "Yiayia." She was a proud Greek- American who worked as a receptionist until she was 84, listened to Nana Mouskouri records on the hi-fiin her living room, and rolled dolmades so perfectly uniform they belonged in an encyclopedia of domestic miracles. "Chryso mou," she used to say out loud when she took my sister's face in her hands, then my older brother's, and then mine; we were all her "golden one" ("dear one" is the less literal translation), but the fierceness and unselfishness of my Nana's love made each of us feel as if we'd been singled out. THE BROOKLYN-BASED illustrator and graphic designer Cecilia Ruiz captures the particular tenderness of grandmothers in A GIFT FROM ABUELA (Candlewick, 29 pp., $15.99; ages 4 to 8), her first book written expressly for young children. Ruiz's "The Book of Memory Gaps" (2015) and "The Book of Extraordinary Deaths" (2018) are dazzlingly Goreyesque in their cataloging of suggestive memory disorders and evocative deaths from the seventh century B.C. to the present. "A GiftFrom Abuela," with its block-printed illustrations in muted colors, is more modest in its storytelling and heartwarming in its message, though Ruiz still manages to capture complex social realities (the economic crisis in Mexico in the early 1990s, the alienation of older adults). The story itself is simple: Abuela saves her hard-earned pesos to buy a special present for her beloved granddaughter Niña, though when the government devalues the peso and she fails to exchange it, the money becomes worthless. To liftAbuela's spirits, Niña's solution is to cut the old bills into pieces for elaborate papel picado banners and use them to decorate the drab apartment, allowing Ruiz to create an art-project-within-a-picture-book story that had my own 2-year-old transfixed. An abuela's love is valued and returned in new and innovative forms. At the book's end, Niña and Abuela are spending a Sunday in the park, having pan dulce and watching the people go by: "It was still their favorite thing to do," Ruiz writes. THE GRANDMOTHER FIGURE in Oge Mora's debut as an author-illustrator, THANK YOU, OMU! (Little, Brown, 31 pp., $18.99; ages 4 to 8), is a life-giving force with a nearly bottomless stew pot. The story opens in a kitchen at "the corner of First Street and Long Street, on the very top floor" (the city is unnamed), where Omu, dressed in a yellow drape and gold drop earrings, is tasting the delicious stew that she plans on eating that night. Mora's illustrations use collage to give the book's world a sense of depth and vibrancy - the stew in the pot is represented by an ever-changing calico design - and the stream of cooking odors trailing out the apartment window gives the first hint of the book's folkloric plot. An author's note informs us that in the Nigerian language Igbo, "omu" means "queen," and that in Mora's family, the word also meant "Grandma." As Omu's cooking pot simmers on the stove, the delicious smell travels, and soon a succession of people are knocking at the door to get a taste: a boy from down the hall; a female police officer; a hot dog vendor; a cabdriver. Omu, thanks to the deliciousness of her stew, becomes a grandmother to the whole community. When her pot finally runs empty and it looks as if Omu won't have anything to eat that night, the community returns the love by feeding Omu with an impromptu potluck dinner. Mora is especially deftat using pastels and china markers to give the faces of her cutout figures roundness and expression; similarly, the street scenes are filled with cutouts (a lurching taxi, a flying bus, an energeticlooking soccer player) that will have toddlers reaching out to grab them. THE WRITER BETTY QUAN and the artist Carmen Mok strike a more somber note in GRANDMOTHER'S VISIT (Groundwood, 29 pp., $17.99; ages 4 to 8), their collaboration about the persistence of grandmothers - and the sense of absence that follows their loss. Told in the first-person, the book follows an unnamed girl through her days with her Chinese-born grandmother (it's never stated outright, but the girl's grandmother is her primary caregiver while her parents are offat work), learning how to get the proportions right when cooking a pot of rice, or listening to her stories about eating red lotus beans on holidays back in her village. Suddenly the girl's grandmother is no longer at her side after school, and the door to her bedroom is always closed. Her death is handled suggestively, and the book's color palette darkens as the story takes a beguiling turn in its last pages and veers into the territory of a traditional Chinese ghost story. Small children shouldn't be frightened, though - the spirit of this grandmother is much too loving and protective for that. LEST WE FORGET about grandfathers and their unearthly powers, the beloved children's author Tomie dePaola, best known for the classic witchy grandmother story "Strega Nona" (1975), has created the beautifully spare picture book QUIET (Simon & Schuster, 28 pp., $17.99; ages 4 to 8). This meditation on seeing and stillness teaches mindfulness to children - and the adults who read to them - in a nonpreachy way. Everything about the book is pared-down essentials, from the one-word title to the sparing use of text to the colorfully elemental illustrations. The book opens with a grandfather, looking very much the artist in a banded hat and long scarf, standing in a green field with his two grandchildren and a dog, watching the bees swarm a patch of flowers. A praying mantis climbs a lily stalk, and a mother fox lies curled with her young in a hidden den. "My, oh my," the grandfather says. "Everything is in such a hurry." The family moves through the landscape in the pages that follow, finally sitting down on a bench in order to notice, see deeper and describe. "The birds are just like us," the grandfather says at one point. "Taking a rest, singing their song." In its slowness and its serenity, "Quiet" is a prime example of the "late style" in dePaola's trajectory (think Shakespeare's "The Tempest" or Verdi's "Falstaff") and a corrective to the distraction that threatens to engulf us all. Leave it to a grandparent with an uncanny giftof sight to remind us how to stop, look and really see. But quietly.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [August 30, 2019]
Review by Booklist Review
A grandfather walks with two children, pointing out the busyness in nature around them. Birds are flying, a dog is chasing a ball, a frog is jumping, a dragonfly is zooming, and trees are waving their leaves. The grandfather invites the children to pause and be still. As they sit, the narrative takes a cyclical turn and revisits each thing previously described. Now the birds are roosting and singing. The dog has fallen asleep, and the frog and dragonfly are calm. Most of the acrylic and colored-pencil illustrations, in dePaola's signature style, appear on crisp, white backgrounds, and occasionally some natural elements extend beyond the light green frame of the pages, which creates a sense of expansiveness. The book's central messages are emphasized by full-page portraits of the children: the dark-haired, brown-eyed girl says, I can think, when I'm quiet, while the red-headed boy with green eyes adds, I can see, when I'm still. Simple, straightforward, and effective, this book gently encourages children to find comfort in their own quiet moments.--Lucinda Whitehurst Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Nature is a whirl of activity-"busy as busy can be," renowned children's book creator dePaola writes-when a scarf-clad grandfather (who resembles the author) goes walking in the park with two of his grandchildren. A dragonfly buzzes through the air, a frog jumps into the pond, the trees wave in a breeze, and the family's dog is full of energy. But the grandfather has an idea: he asks the children to sit, "quiet and still," on a bench with him. As the trio settles, the rest of the world seems to slow, too-and everything and everyone seems more alive and aware. "I can think, when I'm quiet," the girl says. "I can see, when I'm still," says the boy. Rendered in soft pastel tones and generous white space and using minimal, poetic text, the book itself embodies the beauty of quietude. DePaola reminds the reader that the great rush of life is not all it's cracked up to be-and that pausing can open people, and moments, to wonder. Ages 4-8. Agent: Doug Whiteman, Whiteman Agency. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-In a park one day, a girl, boy, and their grandfather enjoy observing the busy activities of the creatures around them. Birds hurry across the sky. Their dog chases a ball. A frog jumps and a dragonfly zooms. Even leaves on the trees are moving. So grandfather suggests they sit together quietly. Coincidentally, all the animals that were previously active pause as well. The birds sit on tree branches singing, the dog falls asleep, the frog just sits and blinks, and the dragonfly stops beating its wings. Soon both children come to appreciate the benefits of being quiet. DePaola's signature cartoon illustrations are done with transparent acrylics and colored pencils using a muted palette that aptly matches the story's theme: "To be quiet and still is a special thing." All the spreads are bordered in pastel green and contain fun details such as a parade of ladybugs walking across a leaf and animal activities below ground. White space greatly increases when animals and humans are at rest. Although the animals' cessation of activities just when the humans decide to do so seems somewhat contrived, the value of taking time to remain quiet is an important message to share with children. VERDICT Best shared one-on-one or as a small group mediation.-Marianne Saccardi, Children's Literature Consultant, Cambridge, MA © Copyright 2018. 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
A grandfather, a girl, a boy, and their dog out for a walk notice the busyness of the natural world around them: the bees buzz, the birds fly fast, a dragonfly zooms, all busy as busy can be. The grandfather suggests a break from being busy and proposes a rest on a nearby bench. All becomes calm, and the children notice the value of being quiet (I can think, when Im quiet) and still (I can see, when Im still). Thematically better suited to naptime reading than bedtime, the book is a modest paean to the virtue of taking time out for reflection (and giving a grandpa a rest). Soft pastel shades, long gentle contours, and plenty of white space create a properly serene world to take in. Call to contemplation, or a grandpa trap? Well, why cant it be both? roger Sutton (c) Copyright 2018. 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 white-bearded grandfather imparts his gentle wisdom to his grandchildrena girl and a boyas they meander through a placid green space. Together, the grandfather and children make note of the bustling natural world. The birds are flying, the dog is running; everyone seems to be in a hurry. The grandfather suggests that the children try another way of being with him, sitting quietly on a bench. The creatures around them respond to their stillness, also taking a moment to rest. As the book draws toward its close, each child is featured in a full-page portrait illustration, gazing out as they note what the quiet and stillness offers to them: "I can think, when I'm quiet. / I can see, when I'm still." It seems as though the prolific author and illustrator dePaola is speaking directly to readers on these pages, passing on his own insight. His signature illustration style is so simple that it feels fresh. Thick outlines separate individual shapes, and the muted palette epitomizes softness. A single white lotus floats in a small pond on the final page, perhaps paying homage to contemplative practices such as mindfulness that encourage making space for quiet reflection in our busy lives. Children and grandfather have light skin, the girl with straight black hair and the boy with a curly red mop.A lovely, simple reminder to pause and notice this life. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
