loneliness

Review: Turtle Island by Kevin Sherry

| Tasha

turtle island

Turtle Island by Kevin Sherry

The author of I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean returns with a picture book all about friendship.  Turtle is very big but Turtle is also all alone and getting lonely.  Then one day, a ship wrecked near him and he rescued a bear, an owl, a cat and a frog from the ocean waters.  They climbed aboard his shell and Turtle supplied them with fish to eat.  Happily, Owl could knit, Bear could build, Frog could cook, and Cat could draw.  The four quickly went to work and created a home aboard Turtle.  Turtle wasn’t lonely any more.  One might think the book would end there, but instead the four smaller animals got very homesick and missed their families.  They had to return home, leaving Turtle all alone in the big ocean again.  What is a big lonely turtle to do, especially now that he realizes the importance of having good friends?

Sherry has a way with simple storytelling.  He manages to convey complicated emotions using a combination of his storyline and his illustrations.  Here the impact of having friends is looked at with humor and through a unique relationship of a huge turtle and characters riding on his back.  It’s a very nice metaphor for needing to support friends in different ways.

As with all of Sherry’s books, his cartoony illustrations are child friendly and add to the humor.  They keep this story from becoming overly sweet, showing goggle-eyed animals in different colors and always clearly showing that Turtle is simply huge.

Gently funny, simple and honest, this picture book is a friend to any story time on friendship or turtles.  Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Love Monster by Rachel Bright

| Tasha

love monster

Love Monster by Rachel Bright

Love Monster lives in a world filled with soft and cuddly pastel animals and everyone loves them.  But no one loves a red, googly-eyed monster who isn’t so cute.  So Love Monster decides to head out and see if he can find someone who will love him despite not being cuddly.  Love Monster searches and searches for someone like this.  He even thinks he’s found them, but then discovers that he has not.  He’s just about to give up, but learns some things are worth working hard to find.

Bright does an admirable job of creating a book that has a very large message without it consuming the story too much.  She uses a narrator voice that is strong and individual which helps keep the book from becoming to sweet as well.  Love Monster is a great character, primarily because he isn’t a complainer and refuses to just settle for a life alone.

Bright’s art is bight and large.  Love Monster pops against each pastel page with the pages getting darker colored as the story progresses.  Finally, night has fallen and the stars come out in a black sky and Love Monster pops there too.

Monsters and love, sounds like a great Valentine’s Day book for little monsters.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Review: The Tiny King by Taro Miura

| Tasha

tiny king

The Tiny King by Taro Miura

There once was a very tiny king who lived all alone in a big castle, guarded by an army of big soldiers.  He ate at a huge table with an enormous feast that he could never finish.  He rode a big horse that threw him off every time.  He had a big bathtub with a fountain.  But all of these things did not make him happy.  He slept alone in a big bed and could not sleep very well.  Then the tiny king married a big princess and they were very happy.  They had ten children and everyone was happy.  The soldiers were given a vacation, the castle was bright and busy, they finished the entire large feast, they all rode together on the big horse, everyone bathed together in the big fountain, and best of all, the king could now sleep soundly with all of them fitting perfectly in the big bed.

Miura is a graphic designer from Japan and he has created a book that is gorgeously designed.  His illustrations are big and bold, strong shapes popping with color against the solid backgrounds.  The backgrounds change as the tone of the book changes.  When the king is lonely, the backgrounds are solid black.  The page where he meets the big princess is white.  Then the pages where he has a family are bright colored.  Throughout, Miura incorporates pieces of paper with letters, writing, or stylized vintage objects making it even richer.

The story is a simple one, but also one that speaks volumes about how riches and power do not mean that you are living a fulfilling life.  It was not until love and people entered this tiny king’s life that he was happy.  Don’t expect a subtle storyline here.  It is too basic a book for that, one appropriate for very small children to enjoy.

The story of a tiny king with a big heart and huge amount of love to share is one that toddlers and young preschoolers will enjoy.  Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Old Robert and the Sea-Silly Cats by Barbara Joosse

| Tasha

old robert

Old Robert and the Sea-Silly Cats by Barbara Joosse, illustrated by Jan Jutte

Old Robert sailed his ship at sea during the day and docked it at night because it was so dark.  At night, he prepared his dinner of toast in buttered milk and ran through his list of things that were all in their proper place, including clean socks, a clock, one dish and one spoon, and the moon.  He was all alone until one night when a dancing cat asked to come aboard.  Old Robert hesitated because there wasn’t much room aboard, but in the end he agreed.  So he made dinner of toast in buttered milk for both of them and when he went to bed, he noticed the moon was bigger.  Now his list included the cat in its hammock as he went to sleep.  On subsequent days, another two talking cats joined him on board, for dinner, and on his list.  And the moon got bigger still.  Finally, a cat that didn’t talk at all arrived and Old Robert let it on board too.  There was no room for a hammock, for Old Robert let it sleep on his chest.  Finally, the moon was full and Old Robert sailed off into the moonlit night with all of the cats. 

I expected quite a different book when I saw the cover.  I thought it was going to be silly, zany, and rather wild.  Instead, this book has a beautiful quietness to it, a thoughtfulness, and makes for a perfect bedtime read.  Joosse incorporates repetition so well here that it becomes a lullaby.  His listing of his belongings doesn’t change much, except for the size of the moon and the number of cats.  It speaks to the simplicity of his life, but also to how lonely he is.  This is shown rather than told, giving the book a lovely little ache that heads right for the heart.

Jutte’s illustrations too have a mix of silly and quiet.  They have a vintage feel, of old comic books that will make readers feel right at home.  They have great color with explosions of pinks, blues and yellows that pop and glow. 

A great read aloud, this would make a great bedtime pick but it is also a good one to turn into reader’s theater for children.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from Philomel Books

Review: Zoo Girl by Rebecca Elliott

| Tasha

zoo girl

Zoo Girl by Rebecca Elliott (Link to InfoSoup)

Told in just a few words per page, this book tells the story of a little girl who doesn’t have a family.  At the orphanage she is lonely and has no friends.  Then the children visit the zoo and suddenly the little girl feels at home.  She is left behind at the zoo and the animals discover her.  They befriend her and she lives with them for awhile until the zookeepers discover her curled up with the tigers.  The little girl does not want to go, and the book ends with a happy ending where the little girl is adopted by the zookeeper couple.  The story is a simple one, told in only a few words, but the sense of belonging and being wanted remains a powerful message.

Elliott’s story is really told in the illustrations rather than the words.  Her art is a rich mix of texture, patterns, drawing and photographs.  The rather simply drawn characters and animals live in a world made dazzling.  Even the air itself seems to have its own feeling and shape.  The elephant has wonderful wrinkles, the tiger has plush fur, and the penguin’s feathers are swirled. 

Also, in the orphanage, the mood is not grim.  It is specifically this little girl who does not have friends and feels alone.  The other children are merry and playing with one another.  That changes the message quite a bit too.

Perfect for toddlers because of its brevity, this book is a very friendly way to talk about adoption.  Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Squish Rabbit by Katherine Battersby

| Tasha

squish rabbit

Squish Rabbit by Katherine Battersby

Squish is such a little rabbit that no one seems to see him or hear him.  So he made himself a stuffed rabbit friend.  But that only helped his loneliness for a little bit.  He tried playing with the trees, but they didn’t play fair.  Finally, Squish lost his temper and threw a tantrum.  He kicked an apple high into the air, and someone saw and thought it was a game.  Squish saw that the squirrel was heading for a cliff chasing the apple and finally found his voice.  And a new friend.

Battersby has created a picture book with an exceptional amount of appeal.  Her text is simple and understated, allowing the pictures to tell the rest of the story at times.  And what pictures they are!  Done in mixed media collage, the illustrations are winningly simple.  They have a charming ease to them, especially the depiction of Squish, done in white with free black lines.  The mixed media comes in with cut paper, fabrics, and watercolors that give great texture and color.

Highly recommended, this is a superb picture book that small children will relate to and that is also beautiful and stylish.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from Viking.