Review by Booklist Review
In this imaginative, insightful portrayal of a child coping with the loss of someone special, Sylvester writes a letter to G.G. ("Greatest Grandma"), letting her know she's missed--and loved. In vibrant artwork and an expressive narrative, Sylvester describes how he could send it--by skydivers, who land on a train leading into a jungle, and more. Then Sylvester treks by bike to deliver the letter himself, eventually attaching it to his toy plane and sending it soaring into the night sky. Evocative blue-hued depictions of Sylvester's silent, lonely return journey interweave with images of his memories of G.G., and are paired with the letter's sweet sentiments, ranging from lighthearted (how pickles remind him of G.G. because she's "the most pickle-loving person I know") to affectionate ("I was thinking today that you are one of my favorite people of all time"). While younger readers may not totally grasp the reason for G.G.'s absence, Burgess and Cochran's playful, upbeat, and touching depiction of grief and mourning reassuringly portrays the ways Sylvester's connection with G.G. endures and her presence is still felt--particularly in the combination of the bold artwork (including a thrilling gatefold) and spare yet poignant text. Related in a compassionate, gentle tone, Sylvester's experiences will reassure the reader that even with sadness, there can be joy, solace, and inspiration, too.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Loss fuels a creative contemplation of love in this imaginative story of memoriam from the creators of Drawing on Walls. Young narrator Sylvester, portrayed with pale skin and dark hair, sits at a table, drawing means of sending the letter they've written to "G.G. (Greatest Grandma)." Cochran works in dynamic, pixelated art that pulses with color. In the child's drawings, skydivers will deliver the letter, after Sylvester "high-five them onto the plane." The skydivers, portrayed with varying skin tones, jump and make a human flower; the skydiver carrying the envelope lands on a train in a jungle. In reality, the child tucks the letter into a knapsack, cycles into the mountains, and launches it off a precipice in a toy plane whose arc mimics that of distant shooting stars. Now, pages toggle between sentences of the letter ("I miss you every day. I always think of you when Mom puts a pickle on my plate," Burgess writes) and images of the child's journey home, where a small but miraculous occurrence seems to signal a reply. Merging fantasy and reality, the creators pay tribute to the way Sylvester's love helps to process longing and sorrow. Ages 6--up. (Aug.)
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Review by Horn Book Review
"Some letters can't be delivered in the usual way. But I have a plan." Sylvester misses his grandmother, G.G., and attempts to send her a letter, in this tender and imaginative book about longing. Where is G.G.? The answer is ambiguous. Sylvester speaks of sending skydivers into the jungle "where the rare pink dolphins wait," so perhaps G.G. is a scientist in a remote location. Or maybe this is a child trying to understand an absence that is beyond his reckoning. Cochran lets Sylvester illustrate his own story -- a couple of double-page spreads show him drawing the very pictures we're looking at -- and the whimsical images created with bold colors and thick brushstrokes have a kidlike energy and charm. Wordless spreads, including a gatefold that opens up to show everything in this child's mind and heart, give readers the opportunity to digest the magnitude of his emotions. He ultimately sprawls on the lawn under the moon feeling his feelings, when a butterfly lands on his nose. G.G.? Coincidence? The specificity of Sylvester's experience gives this book a wistful note, and the ambiguity allows for the opportunity to consider many types of absence. Adrienne L. PettinelliSeptember/October 2023 p.47 (c) Copyright 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 child creates and sends a letter to a beloved grandmother. How does one commune with the dearly departed? Although listeners won't know the nature of young Sylvester's grandmother's absence until they piece together context clues, this is the matter the child is working out. The opening depicts Sylvester drawing a picture that turns into scenes showing the heights and depths necessary to relay the message, because "Some letters can't be delivered in the usual way." The brown-skinned protagonist makes breakfast to energize sky divers who "form a human flower in midair," then parachute down to a train making its way through a jungle. Following the river to the "rare pink dolphins," Sylvester places the letter in a toy airplane and launches it; from there, it will "leap to meet the butterflies," the ultimate carriers. Poet Burgess and artist Cochran--the team that produced Drawing on Walls (2020)--expertly capture an imaginative child's perspective and logic with lovely, alliterative language and wordless spreads rendered in brilliant colors and markerlike scrawls. A marvelous double gatefold portrays the entire journey. Other ways of connecting include eating lunchtime pickles and learning to pickle--since G.G. (Greatest Grandma) was the "most pickle-loving person I know"--and a miraculous moment when a butterfly lands on Sylvester's nose. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A nuanced celebration of the lasting joy that intergenerational friendship inspires. (Picture book. 4-7) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
