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A high-energy blobfish makes its presence known
in Olien’s funny spoof of informational science-themed picture books (reviewed on this page).
Picture Books
Busy Busy!
Lucy Scott. Creston (PGW, dist.), $15.99
(32p) ISBN 978-1-939547-25-5
In Doodle Diary of a New Mom, Scott
documented some of parenthood’s more
challenging moments, from breast-feeding in graffiti-filled bathroom stalls
to date nights that involve passing out on
the sofa. In her first children’s book, she
shows why all that effort is worth it.
Parents are nowhere in sight as a toddler
with floppy brown hair, peach skin, and
gray overalls recounts her “busy busy day”
in narration that gives a strong sense of
the largeness of the girl’s imaginative
world. “I built a city!” she announces as
her stuffed animals perch on tall towers of
blocks. “I cooked lunch for ten!” she says
while she stirs pots in her play kitchen
before a crowd of plush toys. The artwork
is lovely from start to finish; Scott’s illustrations have a delicacy and precision
reminiscent of Helen Oxenbury’s work.
Telling, true-to-life details, such as the
row of pillows serving as a path across
“a river full of crocodiles” and the cat
retreating from the cacophony of the
child’s one-girl band, will resonate with
children and parents alike. Ages 3–5.
Agent: Isabel Atherton, Creative Authors.
(May)
Barnacle Is Bored
Jonathan Fenske. Scholastic Press, $14.99
(32p) ISBN 978-0-545-86504-3
In a mischievous skit of a story, Geisel
Award Honoree Fenske (A Pig, a Fox, and
a Box) introduces a dyspeptic barnacle for
whom the sea grass is always greener—
until it isn’t. Affixed to the underside of a
dock, Barnacle has an existence that’s low
on mobility and big on routine. “Every
day is the same,” he groans. “The tide
comes in. I am wet and cold. The tide goes
out. I am dry and hot.” Fenske gives
Barnacle pale limbs that dangle in the
water like idle fingers and a range of gri-
maces and half-lidded glares. After a
dopey-looking yellow fish shows up, it
triggers a series of jealous imaginings (“I
bet he dives with dolphins. I bet he soars
with sailfish”) that abruptly ends with the
arrival of a hungry eel—it turns out that
being bored beats being lunch. From nar-
ration that consists entirely of Barnacle’s
mopey monologue to a dockside environ-
ment defined by creamy blue water, a bit
of sand, and a couple planks, Fenske keeps
it simple, deploying his closing jokes
with confident comic timing. Ages 3–5.
Agent: Carrie Hannigan, Hannigan Salky
Getzler Agency. (May)
; Sam and Jump
Jennifer K. Mann. Candlewick, $15.99 (32p)
ISBN 978-0-7636-7947-7
Sam and his stuffed bunny, Jump, “do
everything together. Because they are best
friends.” But when Sam goes to the beach,
he meets a boy named Thomas, and they
have so much fun that Sam forgets all
about Jump when he leaves. Luckily,
Thomas doesn’t. With its simple sentences (set in a typeface that has an understated poignancy), roundheaded characters, and softly colored watercolor-and-ink
renderings, Mann’s (I Will Never Get a Star
on Mrs. Benson’s Blackboard ) story raises
some powerful and provocative questions
about loyalty, responsibility, and friendship. Was Sam being thoughtless or even
disloyal when he put Jump aside to play
with Thomas? On the other hand, Jump is
a toy—perhaps even a “baby toy”—and
Thomas is a real peer who seems like he’d
make a very good friend (and proves it
when he rescues the forgotten Jump).
Doesn’t Thomas have a greater claim on
Sam’s attention? Mann splits the differ-
ence in the end, but both adults and kids
should find this ostensibly unassuming
story offers significant food for thought.
Ages 3–7. Agent: Holly McGhee, Pippin
Properties. (May)
As Time Went By
José Sanabria. NorthSouth (IPS, dist.),
$18.95 (48p) ISBN 978-0-7358-4248-9
In a tale written in three parts,
Colombian illustrator Sanabria tells the
story of a group of homeless people who
find a wonderfully unexpected place to
live. In the first section, he traces the
downward slide of a once-majestic ocean
liner that “sailed beside the sun.” Ladies
with bustles and parasols who walk the
deck are replaced by cargo and fishing
nets before the ship is abandoned, the
palette fading from rich color to dreary
browns. Next, Sanabria introduces a
wealthy family whose fortunes change;
they are forced into drearier neighborhoods until eventually being pushed to
the harbor with other luckless residents,
the colors fading page by page here, too.
In the final section, the people climb rope
ladders up to the deck of the ship and
haul their furniture aboard. A man “who
had loved the sea since he was a boy”
helps them rebuild, and the ship sails
again. The triumph isn’t shown in the
tone, which stays restrained, but in the
colors, which reappear in confetti and
flowers. Objects don’t stay precious forever, Sanabria’s story shows, but human
lives do. Ages 4–8. (May)
The Blobfish Book
Jessica Olien. HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray,
$17.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-06-239415-6
Slotting somewhere between Mélanie
Watt’s Chester books and Mystery Science
Theater 3000, Olien’s spoof of dry, nonfic-tional picture books delivers big laughs,
thanks to a pink blobfish eager for its
moment in the spotlight. The book-within-a-book premise lets readers flip
through a photographic title, The Deep Sea
Book, about the denizens of the deepest
parts of the ocean. But for a pink cartoon
blobfish popping up among photos of
viperfish, anglerfish, and other creatures,
the pages suffer from a serious lack of
attention to its own species. Worse, when
the blobfish spread finally arrives, it’s a
rude awakening: “The blobfish was once
Children’s/ YA
