Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Young Erin has always seen animals in the clouds: "a dragon who had run out of puff, a fox who was late for school, and a polar bear who was making snowballs," writes Colfer (the Artemis Fowl series), describing fancifully rendered clouds echoed in economic cartoon lines by Judge (the Beast series). When Erin experiences an extended stay at a local children's hospital, the Cloud Babies, as they are known, bring comfort to her and her parents ("To be together, all they had to do was look up") as well as to her tight-knit fellow patients. But when Erin finally returns to school, anticipating only occasional "hospital days," she feels likes she's "floating somewhere in between" two worlds. At school, clouds are studied for science, and it feels important to leave perceived "little kid" stuff behind--including cloud babies. A bright idea from her parents and teacher help Erin realize she can keep the figures in her world and use them to brighten the lives of others, too. As cheery on-the-ground scenes lean into home, hospital, and school backgrounds, Colfer's lengthy, play-by-play text brims with empathy, affirming that imagination can be powerful medicine. Erin's family reads as white; secondary characters are portrayed with varying skin tones. Ages 5--9. (Apr.)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 1--3--The subtitle says it all: when you are feeling low, looking up might be the best thing to do. Erin loves looking at the clouds and finding animal shapes. This game, which she calls "cloud babies," is shared with her mom and dad. When she becomes sick and needs to spend an extended period of time in the children's ward at the hospital, she shares the cloud babies game with other children as well as with her family. Her adjustment to life after the hospital is difficult, and Erin feels a need to "catch up" to her friends at school. Playing cloud babies is too juvenile for her schoolmates. The reconciliation between her two worlds and her conflicting needs is resolved by the story's end, with a visit by her schoolmates to the children's ward at the hospital. Inspired by the illustrator's family experience with illness, this reassuring tale will be useful for children in similar straits as well as for classmates who need to strengthen their empathy skills to welcome and support classmates returning from such absences. VERDICT Whimsical illustrations capturing cloud babies will help all readers connect with this story and encourage cloud gazers to find imaginative creatures in the skies above and room in their hearts for the struggles of other children.--John Scott
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
An imaginative girl faces a long hospital stay. When Erin looks to the sky, she sees "cloud babies": such quirky critters as "a dragon who had run out of puff" or "a fox who was late for school." One day, Erin feels sick and goes to the children's hospital, a world of buzzing beds, beeping machines, welcoming staff, and new friends. There, spotting cloud babies provides comfort and a way for her and Dad to bond even when they're apart. But back at school after her long stay, Erin feels different. She's shorter than her classmates, and when she tells the class about cloud babies, her teacher turns them into a science lesson, stripping them of their joy. On follow-up "hospital days," kids of all ages play together, but Erin and her classmates are all 6--too old for cloud babies, she decides, resolving to keep her "two worlds" of hospital and school separate. But she feels like she's "floating somewhere in between" both. Then, Mom gets an idea….Colfer's clear, gentle text will resonate with kids experiencing chronic illness and their parents alike as he explores the complexity of feeling alternately accepted by and different from peers. Emphasizing the interplay of imagination and reality, Judge's bright illustrations mingle expressive cartoon figures and realistic backgrounds. Erin and her parents have pale skin; other characters are racially diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A perceptive embrace of imagination and empathy. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
