Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this madcap romp, Sumovich (One More Jar of Jam) and Jacoby (Doris) consider what might happen when a mother, after a long day of shopping and parenting, unwittingly slurps up daughter Paulette along with her evening meal. When the pale-skinned duo set out for the market, wispy multimedia spreads and vignettes imagine a fairy tale world of wooden stalls and beguiling farm animals, where Paulette's mother, arrayed in frothy pink, demonstrates happy disregard for the misdeeds of her "precious tornado." "Everything was fine!" assures winking narration as Paulette has a "little whoopsie at the fresh pasta stand" and applies tomatoes to the farmer's goat. After the child sniffs a bottle at the herbalist's wagon, mother and daughter head home and cook "a pleasant sauce (so pleasant)," and the fateful mouthful is swallowed. Readers see a cutaway view of Paulette sleeping safely in her mother's stomach, but her frantic mama, who thinks she's lost, searches everywhere, encountering overwhelmed parents and "beastly" children, until the herbalist returns. It's a fantastical idyll that slyly mines the theme of doting adults and obstreperous children. Secondary characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 4--8. Author's agent: Hannah Mann, Writers House. Illustrator's agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Oct.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Paulette is a "precious tornado" whose mother loves her--even when she makes a mess at the market. Paulette's mother's mantra? "Everything is fine!" She mitigates every disaster by paying for items that Paulette's damaged and doling out excuses. When Paulette gets too close to an herbalist's magic potion--ignoring the "No Touching" sign--nothing seems amiss at first, but the next morning Paulette is missing. Apparently, Paulette's mother was so exhausted the night before that she slurped Paulette into her belly along with her spaghetti. As Paulette's mother searches frantically for her daughter, she encounters many other naughty children, all deemed "perfect" by their loving parents. Suddenly ravenous, she devours a long twirling rope of spaghetti given to her by the herbalist; Paulette uses the strand of spaghetti to climb up and out. The setup may lead some to expect a cautionary tale with a clear takeaway; such readers will be disappointed by the meandering narrative. Reunited, the pair breeze into town, "a whirlwind of noodles and mayhem," evidently having learned no lessons from their ordeal (though they warn a curious tot to stay away from the herbalist's wagon). Eye-catching, ethereal illustrations in pastel tones with saturated pops of neon are spattered with marbling ink, making for chaotic scenes that are hard to follow. Paulette and her mother present white with golden curls; other characters are diverse. A quirky story of a plucky mother-daughter pair that reads like a fable missing its moral.(Picture book. 3-5) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
