(2) K-3 Translated by Michael Favala Goldman. The hero of this story lives alone in his extremely tidy house. He shines his shoes, irons his shirt, plays hide-and-seek with his cactus, and practices the piano. Everything is predictable, organized, and safe. He is a child living like a reclusive, buttoned-up adult. He likes it that way -- or so the text says. The illustrations hint at a different reality. In the restrained, sepia-toned pencil drawings we see precise, orderly renditions of the setting, with inventories of the desk, the flowers in the garden, the contents of the first-aid kit. But there are off-kilter details: chimney smoke that turns into a kind of origami shape, wallpaper that seems to be taking over, and some glimpses of bears, paintings of bears, bear-shaped bookends. Then a real bear, who might be a dream-bear, arrives, and the boy, who might be a dream-boy, turns into a real child. Together, the two friends roughhouse, break crockery, dance, make messes, laugh, growl at the moon, and tenderly cozy up together to sleep. The boy's cheeks warm from blue to pink. This Danish import is a gentle testament to friendship, the potential for growth and change, and the sheer exhilaration of letting go.

Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2024

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Sirin Thada. This tribute to the life and artistry of the iconic musician offers readers a chance to delve into Prince's (1958–2016) evolution from music-loving child to determined young adult set on conquering the industry. Born Prince Rogers Nelson and named for his father's jazz band, he was drawn to music from the start: "Music called out to Prince and he wanted to learn how to make it." A lyrical and accessible text illuminates Prince's artistry, highlighting the obstacles he overcame (such as the ridicule he faced for his height and the emotional toll of his parents' divorce) and painting a compelling picture of his resilience -- culminating in the iconic release of the movie and soundtrack for Purple Rain and ending with his 2007 Super Bowl performance. Thada's illustrations enrich the narrative with vibrant, textured images that seem to dance alongside the words. Her use of bold purples, blues, and gold, combined with "colored pencil and aqueous media," brings Prince's electrifying stage presence and his more introspective moments to life. One spread shows Prince mid-leap, diving off the stage into the audience, conveying the energy and intimacy of his live performances. Thada also includes visual nods to Prince's memorable outfits that longtime fans will appreciate.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2025

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Lisk Feng. Handy and Feng explore and celebrate the juxtaposition of light and shadow from sunrise to sunset. With daybreak brings the opening lines: "There was a shadow. It was a new shadow, but also the last hint of night. It was a morning shadow." Throughout the day come hill shadows, noontime shadows, bug shadows, indoor shadows, and shadows "cast by moonlight," even the shadows of emotions across a face: worry, happiness, and sadness. Light brings "the play of light on water" and "the play of light on a face" (light does a lot of playing). The night sky would be all blackness if not punctuated by the varied lights of celestial bodies. The repetition of the phrase "there was a shadow" sometimes feels intrusive, but overall the poetic language beautifully complements Feng's gorgeous digitally rendered illustrations. There's a story in those illustrations: a child freely roams fields and hills, hangs out with friends under a tree, and returns home for supper to a kitchen infused with white light juxtaposed with "a warm shadow, a comforting shadow" (though two adult shadows are depicted). A final line -- "Or were they dreams?" -- offers much to contemplate.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2024

(2) K-3 Translated by Lawrence Schimel. Originally conceived for a project produced by the Palestinian Museum and inspired by the traditional embroidery of Palestinian culture, this Argentinian import honors unseen worlds. The mixed-media art relies primarily on highly textured and detailed embroidery to tell the tale of a girl whose mother scolds her for losing things, such as her keys. Leilah, like her grandmother, is sensitive to the dreamlike existence of the "Other Side and its mysterious inhabitants." Isol depicts this as a world embroidered in red thread, and superimposed upon it in blue threads are the creatures that live there; delightfully, she also depicts the back sides of these embroidered cloths to emphasize the "much stranger" other world "just behind ours." She renders the startling, eye-catching forest with black threads, for example. Leilah knows that the holes that lead to the Other Side, including one in the forest, are responsible for her lost items, so she sews up the holes with a needle and thread -- which leads to unexpected consequences. Isol tells the story in four parts and an epilogue, the last introducing the otherworldly Lexis and Rolf, who find a surprising use for the lost keys. A richly imagined tale told with loving care.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2024

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Josh Cochran. "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.

Reviewer: Adrienne L. Pettinelli | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2023

(2) K-3 Translated by Emilie Robert Wong. Illustrated by Violeta Lopíz. Fontenaille and Lópiz bring readers a deeply affectionate intergenerational story of a six-year-old child and Grandpa Luis. The child admires Luis, a talented gardener who fled war in Spain as a youth and never attended school or learned to read or write. "Dad told me Luis didn't have a chance to be a kid." The grandchild's first-person narration lovingly describes Luis's tattoo-covered arms, his artwork that covers the walls ("Dad says Luis is as good as Henri Rousseau"), his cooking, his guitar-playing, and the idiosyncratic way he speaks: "He says I am 'the apple of his pie,' which means he really likes me." Lópiz's beautifully composed, exquisitely controlled illustrations burst with color, capturing impressions and moments with graceful lines and evocative, layered patterns and textures. There is a particularity to the story and characters that makes this book most memorable and spellbinding.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2023

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Ashleigh Corrin. This playful and introspective book asks readers to ponder what the world would be like if things taken for granted disappeared. What if "all the birds flew away"? What if "all the water disappeared"? What if "the sun never set"? Handy presents eight of these scenarios, each one imaginatively exploring what might happen in Corrin's energetic, full-bleed illustrations dominated by vivid ambers. If the birds flew away, for instance, skies would be "plainer." There's much humor here too. If the birds did indeed fly away, worms could take it easy--Corrin's illustration depicts worms lounging on beach chairs and reading books--and if all the water disappeared, soap would fail to work. (The absence of color results in some humorous crayon names: "Dirty Snow" and "Deepening Gloom.") The text succeeds on many levels; children are subtly prompted to consider the effects of climate change (if there were no more people, nature "could relax") yet to also ponder our creative contributions ("there would be no more music or art or stories or dancing"). Each scenario concludes with an exuberant statement in the affirmative to enthusiastically remind readers of the delights of their planet: "But there is WATER!" and "But there are COLORS!" The pitch-perfect ending invites discovery, asking us to contemplate the "something" missing "because it hadn't been dreamt of yet."

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2023

(2) K-3 Hayes tells a tender, surreal story about a young child in awe of the sun's warmth. Despite family members' naysaying, the boy decides to fly up and visit the sun "by myself." The sun greets him with a hug and invites him to appreciate her work. They see a busy beach and a flower she helped to bloom. She shows him a forest of trees "that took her years to grow" and a rainbow "that only lasted seconds." The child shares his questions, dreams, and fears--in return, the sun offers a parting gift that makes him "feel brilliant with light." The boy's peculiar charcoal-gray world is brightened by the discerning use of color, particularly the vibrant yellow of the sun. Hayes's understated and unfussy text provides a sense of reassurance that, though darkness and insecurity may appear in our lives, the light within us never truly disappears.

Reviewer: Grace McKinney | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2023

(2) PS "When Max was a kitten, he was the only one." Young Max was born to Gooseberry, both of whom readers of the Provensens' Maple Hill Farm books will recognize. Readers are privy to Max's life during the daylight hours, in which he explores the barnyard, teases other animals, drools over the baby chicks (though he knows better than to bother Goat Dear or Rebel the horse); and leaves squirrel tails for his humans (as the "mighty hunter" he is) in his "room and bed" on the family farm. But as the sun starts to set, "You would not know him. He looks like a tiger. Now...his real life begins." Off slinks Max to mysterious nocturnal escapades. Provensen fans will be thrilled that this "never-before-published picture book," complete with hand-lettering, has seen the light of day. It closes with a note from the couple's daughter, Karen Provensen Mitchell, who recalls growing up with the real-life Max on Maple Hill Farm. Via translucent watercolors, distinctive lines, and their singular style, the Provensens capture the riddles that are cats--and the thrill of being one who roams a family farm.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2023

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Remy Charlip. First published in 1963. A playful, singsongy, almost stream-of-consciousness-like text (“He said / Mmm / He said / Umm / He said / Humm / He said / Hum-de-dum”) and bold, minimalist­ illustrations in a lim-ited palette tell the story of a boy who tries to impose his will on his cat (dressing him up, giving him a ride in a wagon)—but the cat has other ideas. He wants to climb trees, listen for bees, sniff the air, etc. The boy then begins to consider his own sense of self—and the book ends happily with the cat choosing to sleep at the end of the boy’s bed. This is a very effective communication of the concepts of boundaries, identity, and autonomy, presented in a child-friendly way.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2023

(2) K-3 Shahrzad, a little girl with black corkscrew hair, beetling brows, and a trusty scooter, likes stories. She seeks them out and tucks them away. One day she hears about a king in a distant land whose personal sorrows have turned him into a tyrant. This is her moment. Piloting her own plane, she travels to a land of minarets and onion domes and finds this sad and angry king isolated in his palace, grieving and oppressing his people. Day after day she tells him stories until she senses that he is ready to hear his own tale reflected back to him with understanding, sympathy, and a nudge toward a change of heart. This wise and witty riff on the Scheherazade framing tale of The Arabian Nights merges everyday and fairy-tale worlds, with respect for the traditional job of folklore to encourage us to shape up and fly right. The pictures are energetic, with a wide-ranging cast of characters, cheeky humor (Shahrzad gets in some thinking time while sitting on the toilet), and Chagall-like warmth and exuberance. A dark undertone and contemporary political resonance are there for those who are ready for it, but for everyone it's an original contribution to picture books about smart girls who save the world.

Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2022

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Gabriel Maralngurra. This informative and visually sumptuous picture book highlights twelve creatures native to West Arnhem Land in Australia's Northern Territory, from "One crocodile with many sharp teeth" to "Twelve barramundi swimming upstream." Each spread includes a descriptive header in English and Kunwinjku, an Indigenous language of the Bininj, with the numeral and the number color-coded ("2 Two snake-necked turtles swimming in a billabong / Ngalmangiyi bokenh kabene-djuhme kore kulabbarl") along with the name of the creature ("Northern snake-necked turtle / Ngalmangiyi"). Brief, clear paragraphs in English, with interspersed Kunwinjku vocabulary, follow, with details about each animal's behavior, diet, appearance, relationships to humans, protected status, and other information (such as how good they are to eat--or not). ­Facing pages feature gorgeous illustrations "inspired by rock art that is thousands of years old," with the creatures depicted in precise lines and crosshatching, deeply inked color blocks, strong black or white outlines, and a limited palette including ­striking matte umber backgrounds for every image. Maralngurra is cofounder of a thriving Aboriginal arts organization and (per an appended note and interview) acts as an "ambassador for Bininj culture": "I want people all over the world to learn something...and maybe come over and visit." Back matter includes more about cave paintings and about ancient Bininj art and techniques still used today; the six seasons of West Arnhem Land and their effect on flora and fauna; and a pronunciation guide.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2022

(1) 4-6 Translated by Sara Lissa Paulson. Illustrated by Paloma Valdivia. This lavish volume includes excerpts from Neruda's Libro de las preguntas in the original Spanish alongside new English translations by Paulson. Valdivia's expansive illustrations in a limited, muted palette give readers plenty of space to dwell on each question. The questions themselves, mostly arranged as couplets, have no answers and often imaginative premises: "Who shouted for joy / when the color blue was born?" "Where can you find a bell / that rings inside your dreams?" Frequent gatefolds function as transitions between related illustrations (a peaceful mountain scene becomes a volcanic eruption, with similar changes in the flora and fauna) or as pauses between related questions ("Why do trees hide / the splendor of their roots?" [gatefold] "So, how do roots know / they must rise up to the light?"). Back matter includes notes about the source material and its meaning from the illustrator, editor, and translator. Endlessly perusable--as long as you have the elbow room--the book is perfectly pitched to encourage students to write their own question poems; pair with Kooser and Wanek's equally philosophical Marshmallow Clouds (rev. 3/22).

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2022

(2) K-3 Translated by Antony Shugaar. Illustrated by Beatrice Alemagna. "Once upon a time, there was a girl who was called Little Yellow Riding Hood." "No, red!" "...Her mother said: Now go to Aunt Hildegard's house and take her this potato peel." "No, it's: Go to your grandmother's house and bring her this warm loaf of bread." Here is a humorous story of a grandfather retelling "Little Red Riding Hood" to his granddaughter, and telling it hilariously wrong. The child keeps correcting him, but it doesn't seem to get him back on track. And why bother? Anyone who reads this book will see that the heart of storytelling with children is not the accurate retelling of plot but rather the connection and creative interaction between adult and child. Alemagna's (Never, Not Ever!, rev. 9/21) well-composed and multilayered mixed-media illustrations cleverly support the transition between the two speakers, as the narrative is related solely through dialogue; thought bubbles amusingly show the very different stories unfolding in each of the character's heads. Young readers already familiar with "Little Red Riding Hood" may enjoy this story most, but it will be great fun for all, nonetheless.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2022

(2) PS Translated by Kari Dickson. Illustrated by Mari Kanstad Johnsen. "Bedtime!" is a call that can elicit groans of dread from young children and caregivers alike. While Bo performs "tumblesaults on the sofa and sings as loud as he can," his mother yawns in the background. When she beckons him for bed, he responds, "I'm already asleep!" A parrot, he argues, sleeps as he does--standing on one foot. On the next spread vivid pinks, blues, and yellows cascade away from a parrot standing just like Bo on the previous page. Playing along, his mother offers her little parrot something to eat. With encyclopedic knowledge of many animals' sleeping habits, Bo's mother slowly but surely edges her clever offspring closer to his bed: getting a snack of blueberries and porridge before hibernating like a bear; washing up, stretching his neck like a giraffe in front of the bathroom mirror. Finally, Bo snuggles beneath a mound of brightly colored stuffed animals like a "mob of meerkats," and his mom lies, worn out, on the couch downstairs. Thin and energetic outlines delineate Bo and his mother from the many colorful creatures that surround them, creating a sense of before-bed chaos and blurring the lines between their home and the habitats they envision together. An imaginative, informative, and reassuring bedtime story; pair with Grimes and Zunon's Bedtime for Sweet Creatures (rev. 1/20).

Reviewer: Grace McKinney | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2022

(1) K-3 Translated by Michael Blaskowsky. Sato is a little boy in a rabbit costume, a kind of Japanese second cousin to Max in his wolf suit. In a set of seven small vignettes that span the seasons, Sato's daily activities--watering the garden, doing the laundry, splashing in puddles--turn into magic. Cracking open a walnut reveals an inviting miniature world. Eating a watermelon turns into a seafaring adventure. ("Nothing compares to eating watermelon on the sea.") Observing a meteor shower leads to a star-collection mission. Paintings in a naive style burst with saturated color--watermelon red, night-sky blue, spring chartreuse. All the events coalesce in the final section, in which Sato goes on a winter forest walk, collecting ice in many colors. "The events of spring, summer, and fall are frozen into the waters that flowed through the forest." As he puts the various pieces of ice into drinks, he relives his travels, and the reader revisits the colors that enlivened each event. For fans of Doi's Chirri & Chirra books (Underground, rev. 9/19; In the Tall Grass, rev. 11/17; and others), this import provides another cozy glimpse into mystery, independence, and imaginative play.

Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2021

(1) K-3 Translated by Michael Blaskowsky. Sato, the boy in the rabbit costume from Sato the Rabbit (rev. 1/21), returns for seven cozy, dreamy, nature-based adventures. In "The Green Screw," Sato comes across a tiny, green, screwlike sprout. He turns it, and with every rotation more and more trees pop into leaf. Then he finds a daisy-looking flower, and when he rotates it like a steering wheel, green leaves shower down upon him. There are other creatures in Sato's world, mostly small children in costumes with animal ears, like his, and he even has a party where he plays the tuba to accompany the rain's "music." But for the most part, these small stories are solitary adventures in a benign, quirky setting full of soft pillows, delicious snacks (what would a bit of moon taste like?), and surprising transformations. Like many narratives that celebrate joy and harmony, it ends with a wedding. Sato, in text and (gorgeous) pictures, is industrious, curious, experimental, and focused, using the found materials around him to fashion inventions (a curtain made of rain, a rolled-up red carpet made of fallen leaves) that enhance his surroundings and provide an arena for his imagination. In other words, Sato is every child at play.

Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2022

(2) K-3 Translated by Sinéad Quirke Køngerskov. Illustrated by Anna Margrethe Kjærgaard. Stump and her grandfather are close, sharing hours of jigsaw puzzles and tending his hundred-plus flowers. Grandpa has a sharp memory, remembering the Latin names for all his beloved plants, until one day he doesn't. Soon, he puts out crystal glasses instead of coffee cups and can't make sense of a favorite puzzle. The young narrator is patient and loving. As Grandpa loses words, Stump collects them in a box. When Grandpa wanders out in the snow wearing bedroom slippers, Stump and her grandmother bring him home and warm him up with coffee. Stump, so nicknamed for her grandfather's childhood pet rabbit, recognizes that what he needs is something tangible, so she presents him with a new rabbit. The first-person account is clear and unadorned. This down-to-earth narration, combined with the dreamy quality of Kjærgaard's paintings, successfully conveys the poignancy of Grandpa's progressing dementia and Stump's deep love for him. The artist uses soft edges, layers of watercolor, and a gentle pastel palette, which flattens to shades of gray and blue as winter arrives and Grandpa's memory fails. The final spread, in which he happily holds his rabbit, revives some of the bright colors and flowers from the opening pages, as Stump's gift restores, for at least a moment, some of Grandpa's former self. A detailed, thoughtful afterword about dementia and memory loss adds a useful layer to this emotional story.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2022

(2) K-3 Translated by Dianne Chung. Illustrated by Kim Seung-youn. Also translated by Lee Juck. A young child wonders where his beloved grandpa has gone. "His shoes sit in the closet, waiting to be worn...He isn't here to wake me up, or rub his stubbly chin against my cheek." Readers may understand that the grandfather has died ("Grandma keeps rubbing my back...I eat everything without complaining. If I didn't, I think she would cry"), but the child eventually decides that Grandpa likely has returned to the place he came from: "a place across the universe, full of dazzling stars." He was a tailor, and in the concluding scene, with a well-positioned gatefold, Seung-youn's subdued earth-tone illustrations weave together motifs from Grandpa's life with those of space. The flat black of the night sky is scattered with button stars, for example; and is Grandpa standing on a ball of thread or a planet of his own? With its refrain "Grandpa is gone," the beautifully paced text gradually adds layers to the protagonist's understanding of this enormous loss. An affecting portrait of the deep feelings and confusion of a child mourning the absence of a loved one.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2021

(2) K-3 Translated by Asuka Minamoto. Illustrated by Mi-Sook Yoon. At the time in Earth's history when volcanoes erupted and the oceans first formed, three water drop "brothers"--depicted as teardrops with smiling faces--live in the sea together. Curious about the world above and below, each embarks on a different voyage that illustrates the many recurring transformations of water on Earth as well as the vast scale of time over which these processes occur. Lee creatively frames the changes in and movement of water as tales of adventure, in relatable language that expertly maintains scientific integrity. "The oldest brother, who was very brave, wanted to go close to the sun...Then, one day, he felt his body being lifted out of the water. He had turned into vapor, and was rising upwards into the sky." While the oldest brother continues on the familiar water-cycle path, his brothers choose their own. The middle brother "wriggle[s] his way" into bedrock, eventually emerging into a spring, while the youngest brother's fate is to be absorbed by a grass shoot, transported through a food web--from plant to cow to human--and flushed down a toilet. The drops travel through Yoon's striking black block-cut and bold color earth-scapes, sometimes alone, sometimes gathered with other drops or surrounded by animals from various geologic time periods. Though all three meet up again in the ocean, "they will go on exploring the world in different forms and ways--because that's just what water drops like to do."

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2021