Review by New York Times Review
Great picture books can teach kids things - sometimes things they thought they knew already 32 pp. First Second. $17.99. (Ages 2 to 6) VROOM! Written and illustrated by Barbara McClintock A girl and her racecar are at the center of this satisfying book, gorgeously illustrated as always by McClintock ("Adele & Simon"). "It was a fine evening for a drive," so our heroine zooms right out her window, bushy red hair streaming out of her helmet. She goes through mountains, a desert, a forest and a city, ending up back at her own house, where she settles in for story time with Dad (a book called "Cars," of course). The tone is marvelously matter of fact, about both the girl's feats of driving and her automotive passion. 32 pp. Farrar, Straus & Giroux. $17.99. (Ages 3 to 7) HOLD HANDS Written and illustrated by Sara Varon Varon's singular visual style - bright, friendly and completely zany - and her deft, economical writing make this simple ode to holding hands burst with originality and charm. The book's goggle-eyed creatures are identifiable as rabbits, elephants, ducks and so on, but they wear clothes, ride the bus, go to play dates and day care. All the while they demonstrate the many uses of hand-holding: helping when you're scared, keeping you safe when you cross the street, showing your mom you love her. This world is funny and askew enough to grab and hold a toddler or preschooler's interest, and orderly and reassuring enough to make that same kid feel protected and cared for. WHEN SADNESS IS AT YOUR DOOR Written and illustrated by Eva Eland "Sometimes sadness arrives unexpectedly," this wise, spare book announces. Eland draws sadness as a pale blue blob, rather gentle looking, that shadows a little girl. Lots of white space on each page keeps the mood soothing and thoughtful as the girl tries to figure out what to do. Hiding it doesn't work, but she soon sees sadness as nothing to be afraid of - sadness can't help itself, and means no harm. There's lots of useful advice for sad days: going for a walk through the trees, or just sitting quietly together. Best of all, there's the calm reminder that tomorrow, "when you wake up it might be gone." 32 pp. Random Flouse. $17.99. (Ages 3 to 7) MONTY AND THE POODLES Written and illustrated by Katie Harnett As any owner of a beloved, breed-indeterminate rescue mutt knows, dogs can be a good entree into stories about inequality and prejudice. In this beguilingly written and illustrated tale, Monty is a scraggly blackand-white street creature who stumbles upon some poodles living in luxury at Poodle Mansions. Friendship ensues, against the wishes of the snooty Miss Lillabet. Monty gets a blowout and passes as a poodle, but that just feels wrong. So justice and friendship prevail: The pooches turn an old movie theater into a place where "everyone was welcome." 40 pp. Flying Eye. $17.95. (Ages 4 to 8) HOME IS A WINDOW By Stephanie Parsley Ledyard. Illustrated by Chris Sasaki. Halfway through this tribute to all that makes a place home, like "a table with something good and the people gathered there," it becomes clear that the family in its pages is moving to a new house. New definitions for home follow - "the shirt that smells like your old room" - as we see the family singing in the car, and eating takeout picnic-style at their new place. Ledyard's ("Pie Is for Sharing") words hit every right note; Sasaki's illustrations are earthy and enchanting. 32 pp. Neal Porter/Holiday House. $18.99. (Ages 4 to 8) YOU ARE HOME: AN ODE TO THE NATIONAL PARKS Written and illustrated by Evan Turk Invoking herds of elk and forests of aspen as well as a kid living in a city, Turk captures the grandness of the very idea of our national parks. With bold, freewheeling painting and equally bold, concise poetry, plus informational pages, he has made a book as majestic and inclusive as its subject. 56 pp. Atheneum. $18.99. (Ages 4 and up) LITTLE TACO TRUCK By Tanya Valentine. Illustrated by Jorge Martin. It's about time food trucks took their rightful places in the pantheon of picture-book vehicles. In this whimsically illustrated story an innocent taco truck is dismayed to find there's competition for his usual spot: a falafel truck, oblivious to her trespass! Rest assured, Valentine's story is about making space for everyone, even if it's a bit of a squeeze, and enjoying all the goodness the world has to offer. 32 pp. Schwartz & Wade. $17.99. (Ages 4 to 8) HOW TO READ A BOOK By Kwame Alexander. Illustrated by Melissa Sweet. Alexander's lush poem captures and pays tribute to the sensual pleasures of reading: finding the right comfortable spot, opening your book "like you would a clementine," savoring the beauty and richness of its words. Sweet's colorful multilayered collages and artful lettering do justice to the message, inviting readers of all ages to linger in these lovely pages. "Don't rush through," Alexander reminds us. "Your eyes need time to taste. Your soul needs room to bloom." 32 pp. HarperCollins. $17.99. (Ages 4 to 8) MARIA RUSSO is the children's books editor of the Book Review.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [June 23, 2019]
Review by Booklist Review
A girl opens the door to her home, in a cityscape of busy sidewalks and brownstones, at the beginning of this warm picture book. Inside, with her mom, dad, and brother, and within various rooms, she finds lots of joy and reassurance, from Mom's hugs and a "table with / something good / and the people gathered there" to bedtime reading. But when the family moves, "Home is all that you miss" and the unknown is daunting. Gradually, now living on a quieter street with stand-alone houses, she realizes that it's being with loved ones that makes home "home." Ledyard's spare, lyrical text, accompanied by Sasaki's vibrant, textural illustrations with folk-art flair, expressively portrays the multicultural family's experiences, conveying both concrete and abstract concepts of home. Many sentiments will strike a chord with readers, and, though some depictions present more gender-stereotyped roles--"Home is washing, rinsing, and drying" shows the girl and her mom doing dishes, while, in another spread, it's her dad who drives the car--this gentle, poetic approach to the subject should comfort kids about to move.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
A smiling girl and her dog gaze out a city dwelling's window on the cover of this reassuring, lyrical story. Dinnertime with her extended mixed-race community underscores the reassurance of home ("Home is a table/ with something good/ and the people gathered there") and of family ("Home is washing,/ rinsing and drying,/ and whenever a dish gets broken,/ someone to help you sweep"). Ledyard (Pie Is for Sharing) and Sasaki, once a Pixar animator, shift the tale's trajectory when a page turn reveals a living room filled with packing boxes. The following day, the girl, her brother, their parents, and their hound move to a sunlit suburban house, where they again find solace in togetherness as they picnic on the floor. At story's close, the girl and dog look out from another window, appreciating a new version and vision of home. Ledyard's extemporaneous text leaves wide berth for kids to amplify and personalize the story-as does Sasaki's whimsical, tranquil digital art, which features an amalgam of patterns and geometric shapes. Emphasizing the comfort of the familiar and the promise of new beginnings, this book provides a conversation prompt for families making a move. Ages 4-8. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-Home can be many things-a window, a doorway, a rug, or one more game of hide-and-seek before bath. Home is a book before you fall asleep, a little bit of green, a special corner, and a cozy chair. Perhaps even more so, home is safe and warm, and what feels the same each day. But sometimes things change, and when a familiar home is left behind, a family soon discovers that a new house in a new place can also become a home. In this new space, home is a window, sunlight, a corner for your toys, and, most important, "the people gathered near" who, after all, are what make any house a home. The latest picture book by Ledyard, author of the critically acclaimed Pie Is for Sharing, is beautifully illustrated by Pixar animator Sasaki. Ledyard's sweet text describing home pairs seamlessly with Sasaki's rich and detailed illustrations, which further show all that home can be. This heartwarming story about family and moving will show readers the true meaning of home: the people you share it with. VERDICT A poignant tale sure to help many children deal with the change that moving brings, but recommended for all.-Elizabeth Blake, Brooklyn Public Library © Copyright 2019. 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
Ledyard offers a meditation of sorts on the sense of comfort and belonging that home should evoke, whether its a place we know well or a new home to which weve just moved. Throughout, the text eschews a strict rhyme scheme, but it satisfyingly delivers internal rhythms and rhymes, alliteration, and assonance at unexpected but just-right places. For example: Home is a window, / a doorway, / a rug, / a basket for your shoes. / Home is / Hello, sweet pea, / and a hug, / a little bit of green, / a corner, and a chair. With a style that recalls the work of Jon Klassen and Christian Robinson (while still his own), Sasaki offers a rich interpretation of Ledyards spare, poetic text. Her words lend themselves to the moving-day scenario that Sasaki depictsan interracial family is moving from an apartment in the city to a big house in the countrybut they dont explicitly direct the narrative. Sasaki segues from the old home to the new with two double-page spreads that show the cozy city home at night, then a stark scene of the same room all packed up in daylight. At books end, the family is in the new house, sharing a blanket picnic on the floor together as the text conveys the affirming message that home is the people gathered near. megan dowd lambert March/April 2019 p 62(c) Copyright 2019. 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 multiracial family leaves the comfort and warmth of their old home to establish a new one.Ledyard's story begins in the familiar environs of a family's well-loved and -lived-in home. In gentle, rhythmic prose, Ledyard describes home in myriad ways, from the concrete"Home is a window, a doorway, a rug, a basket for your shoes"to the visceral"Home is Hello, sweet pea, and a hug, a little bit of green" (the last in the form of house plants). Home is not just a house. Home is a place where the family gathers at the table, where mother and daughter wash, rinse, and dry, and where there is always someone to help sweep up a mess. Home is "what feels the same each day"and also "sometimes what is new." Houses may change, but home goes with you in the form of "an arm around you tight" and "all that you miss." Eventually everything will fall into a place, with "a window, sunlight, a corner for your toys." Sasaki's rough-hewn illustrations in pencil and marker are cleverly backgrounded with white (to provide focus) and dark space (to evoke melancholy). And his earth-toned, muted palette pairs beautifully with Ledyard's spare text and the story's slow, languid pace. The mother presents white, the father presents black, and the two childrena boy and a girlhave brown skin.This sweet, emotionally perceptive book will help make any transition from old to new less scary. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
