The Old Boat by Jarrett Pumphrey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars Thank you to Norton Young Readers for the review copy. Another great book from the Pumphrey brothers! They use stamps to create beautiful illustrations. The color palette is bright but calm at the same time. The text is spare, and every word is important. My favorite spreads are back to back: “The old boat caught wants -> and wishes, ->waves -> and wonders.” Good picture books use the illustrations to tell the story as much as they use the prose, and like The Old Truck, if you pay attention you will see the characters grow older and introduce the next generation. View all my reviews
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Maya and the Robot by Eve L. Ewing
My rating: 5 of 5 stars Friendship, jealousy, loneliness, grief, finding your voice, resilience, and pursuing your interests are all themes tucked neatly into this story about a girl and her new mechanical companion. Maya’s best friends are in a different class this year, and for the first time, Maya is not looking forward to school. On top of that, Zoe is mean to her, and her teacher calls her by her first name instead of by Maya. But then, Maya finds a robot in the stock room while working at the store for Mr. MacMillan. She loves science and engineering, and this is exciting! She finds out that Mr. Mac’s son Christopher built the robot years ago, but Christopher is gone now, and Maya is not sure where he is. Maya gets the robot to work and all is well until sabotage at the science fair! This is a good story with heavy moments tempered with humor and fun. Maya learns that there is more to people than she can see on the outside, that Christopher was shot and killed 10 years ago and Mr. Mac is still really sad, that Zoe is mean because she’s jealous and thinks Maya’s life is perfect, that her teacher calls her the wrong name because she doesn’t know any different and Maya never spoke up to correct her. Highly recommended! View all my reviews |