Page 92 - Publishers_Weekly

Review_CHILDREN’S

downpours, slippery mud, or beckoning the kingdom would be in good hands,” and gray birds in the world—as is the idea
mamas; they overcome each obstacle writes dePaola. But the legendary impe- of being desperate to change the color of
together, as a team. Paul moves casually rial robe has gone missing, and everyone the skin (or feathers) one is in. Readers
between English and Creole; definitions in the kingdom believes this “remarkable will, however, readily identify with the
are included, but the meanings are gener- garment” gives the king magical powers feeling of being left out. Ages 5–8. (Mar.)
ally spelled out (“Ou byen? You okay? to protect them. An evil plot is afoot—
Mwen byen. I’m good”). The children’s can it be thwarted? Debut illustrator Mela and the Elephant
elongated, exaggerated movements create Salati, a former Sendak fellow, works with Dow Phumiruk, illus. by Ziyue Chen. Sleeping
an almost constant sense of motion in the assurance of a seasoned pro; his illus- Bear, $16.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-58536-998-0
Alcántara’s vividly colored paintings, and trations, rendered in delicately textured Phumiruk (Maya Lin: Artist-Architect of
their enthusiasm for futbol is infectious. pencil and earth-toned digital color, com- Light and Lines) takes readers to the
Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Karen Grencik, bine an old-fashioned sense of setting and country of her birth in an instructive con-
Red Fox Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Adriana character with a temporary fable about kindness, set in a
Dominguez, Full Circle Literary. (Mar.) contemporary village in Northern Thailand. A girl
approach to named Mela sets off to explore the nearby
★ Hello Lighthouse casting (the banks of the Ping River, refusing to bring
Sophie Blackall. Little, Brown, $18.99 (48p) kingdom is along her younger brother. “What will
ISBN 978-0-316-36238-2 matter-of-factly you give me if I take you?” she asks, but
Painted with the featherlight touch that multicultural, he has nothing. The decision comes back
distinguishes Caldecott Medalist Blackall’s and the king’s to bite her after she’s swept away by the
work, this graceful account of a lighthouse chief counselor current and winds up far from home. Mela
keeper’s life celebrates a lost era. While it is a woman). meets a crocodile, leopard, and monkeys,
was lonely and sometimes dangerous, With its themes of ingenuity, generosity, who ask her the same question she asked
watching the lighthouse was monastic in and the enduring power of community, her brother when she requests their assis-
its simplicity: “He tends the light and the story is a lovely and pointedly relevant tance. She offers them her belongings,
writes in the logbook.” The lighthouse tribute to those who truly confer legiti- which they take—and then abandon her.
keeper readies his home for the arrival of macy on any leader: the people. Ages 4–8. Eventually, an elephant arrives to help and
his wife, who nurses him when he falls ill; Author’s agent: Doug Whiteman, Whiteman deliver the book’s central message that
then he helps her as she gives birth to their Agency. (Apr.) “kindness needs no reward.” It’s not a subtle
first child. Soon the family receives word story, but it’s still a potentially useful tool
that the lighthouse is to be fitted with a How the Finch Got Its Colors for conversations about generosity, and
mechanical light, and their idyll comes to a Annemarie Riley Guertin, illus. by Helena Chen’s digital artwork, rendered in an array
serene end. Many spreads, delicate as Pérez García. Familius, $16.99 (32p) of creamy greens, brings the verdant setting
painted porcelain, depict the lighthouse ISBN 978-1-945547-77-5 to life. Ages 7–8. Author’s agent: Deborah
amid the breaking waves and changing life In an alternative to traditional great Warren, East-West Literary. Illustrator’s agent:
of the ocean. Seals bask, whales pass, and flood narratives, the Earth’s “stark and Mela Bolinao, MB Artists. (Mar.)
the aurora borealis flickers overhead. gray” landscape and animals are trans-
Repeated images of circles echo the light- formed by a deitylike rainbow that
house’s circular rooms, from vignettes appears after 11 days of rain. The ruler of Fiction
framed with nautical rope to a breath- the bird kingdom, Great Bird, “was tired
taking sequence of the lighthouse-keeper’s of his stone-gray colors and wished to be a Elle of the Ball
wife walking through her labor, each beautiful color,” and Rainbow gives him Elena Delle Donne. Simon & Schuster,
moment like the hand on the face of a clock. golden feathers. Other birds follow suit, $16.99 (160p) ISBN 978-1-5344-1231-6
It’s a jewel of a creation and a gift to those and Rainbow’s colors are eventually Donne—a professional basketball
who dream of retreat. Ages 4–8. Agent: exhausted, leaving the Gouldian finch player, youth coach, and author of the
Nancy Gallt, Gallt + Zacker Literary. (Apr.) gray. In a final act, Rainbow gives the memoir My Shot (which publishes simul-
finch a bit of color from all of the other taneously)—taps into her knowledge of
★ In a Small Kingdom birds. Spanish illustrator García’s vibrant the game and her insight into aspiring
Tomie dePaola, illus. by Doug Salati. Simon & bird portraits are well suited to the folk- players in this first book in the Hoops
Schuster, $17.99 (48p) ISBN 978-1-4814-9800-5 loric tone that first-time author Guertin series. As basketball season opens, Elle
It is long ago, in a place “along an brings to the tale (“With one swift kiss Deluca has skyrocketed to a height of six
ancient road.” The beloved old king has from Rainbow, Parrot shimmered like an feet and outgrown her clothes; she now
died, and the young prince is chosen to emerald”), but the underlying story isn’t towers over the seventh-grade boys,
assume the throne. Though the prince is entirely satisfying. Giving “the colors of including her ballroom dancing partner
young and shy—and not much older than dirt, clay, and stone” a negative associa- for the upcoming cotillion. Rather than
some in this book’s target audience—he is tion is somewhat off-putting—particu- boosting her confidence as a basketball
thoughtful and gentle. “All agreed that larly with so many striking black, brown, player, Elle’s growth causes high anxiety:

84 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ■ JANU AR Y 22, 2018