Tag Archives: Family

Nightjar

by Stephen | Leave a comment

Katya Balen, illus. Richard Johnson. Barrington Stoke. (88p) ISBN: 9781800901667
Nightjar

Nightjar

Another brilliant Barrington Stoke produced book that I received through NetGalley in exchange for a review.

This tells the story of Noah, a young boy whose father has separated from his mother and lives in New York now with new partner and her child.

Noah also loves birds, he and his friend have been saving birds and releasing them along with the help of the local vet.

He’s coming up for his bar mitzvah and his dad has come across for it and when they’re out for a walk they find a sickly nightjar.

Here is where the problems and differences between Noah and father come out into the open and reach a head.

Wonderfully written and beautifully observed, this explores family and separation with a sympathetic eye and looks at people growing up and apart without being overly sentimental.

Supported throughout with brilliant illustrations from Richard Johnson this is another great story from Katya Balen and Barrington Stoke.

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Deep

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Stephen Hogtun. Bloomsbury Publishing. (32p) ISBN: 9781526610683
Deep

Deep

After reading The Station Cat last year I was happy to see that Stephen Hogtun had a new picture book coming out.

Another beautifully illustrated picture book from Stephen, Deep follows the story of a mother whale and calf from birth the when the calf becomes independent.

Largely a metaphor for coping with life with the help of others and supporting others to become independent and still loving when they are gone, it isn’t cloying and the story works well.

The palette used to explore the story is a very blue palette, with shades of green thrown in, but when there are difficulties the palette does change to be slightly darker.

The pictures are beautiful and move you through the story with a lot of movement which supports the story well.

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Nightjar

by Stephen | Leave a comment

Katya Balen, illus. Richard Johnson. Barrington Stoke. (88p) ISBN: 9781800901667
Nightjar

Nightjar

Another brilliant Barrington Stoke produced book that I received through NetGalley in exchange for a review.

This tells the story of Noah, a young boy whose father has separated from his mother and lives in New York now with new partner and her child.

Noah also loves birds, he and his friend have been saving birds and releasing them along with the help of the local vet.

He’s coming up for his bar mitzvah and his dad has come across for it and when they’re out for a walk they find a sickly nightjar.

Here is where the problems and differences between Noah and father come out into the open and reach a head.

Wonderfully written and beautifully observed, this explores family and separation with a sympathetic eye and looks at people growing up and apart without being overly sentimental.

Supported throughout with brilliant illustrations from Richard Johnson this is another great story from Katya Balen and Barrington Stoke.

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Can I Come Too

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Owen Davey. Rocket Bird Books. (32p) ISBN: 9781915395009
Can I Come Too

Can I Come Too

As soon as I saw the cover for this book I really wanted to have a proper look at it, I was lucky to be sent a copy for review.

I received the hard back version and there is a sculptural quality to the cover that fits with the block shape style of illustration, really lovely to feel.

The story is one of sibling bears where the youngest bear wants to tag along with the older sibling, and through the enthusiasm, rather than malice, of the younger one things keep going wrong and the older bear keeps getting frustrated and angry.

The story explores these feelings well and has a lovely resolution for the siblings.

I’m still not quite sure whether the art work reminds me of 50s or 60s design aesthetics, leaning toward the 50s, but the palette is a lovely set of warm browns, fresh greens, and cool blues and make the book gorgeous to look at whilst following the story.

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Jayben and the Golden Torch

by Stephen | 1 Comment

Thomas Leeds. Hachette Children’s Group. (288p) ISBN: 9781444968637
Jayben and the Golden Torch

Jayben and the Golden Torch

Another that I fancied the brief description on NetGalley and glad I persevered through a bout of brain fog to finish.

This sees Ben/Jayben switching between Earth World and Elf World and discovering that he is the ninth and final Dreamer, and he has a great destiny to fulfil to set the balance of the worlds right once again, but in the Elf World he has no memories of who he is or what he has to do.

Worse still there is a fake Dreamer who is after him and his power, throw in an acid-spitting witch who can duplicate things, agents who can see his purple aura, and an array of fantastical creatures out to stop him you can see how this might be a wee bit difficult.

Jayben though is not alone and gathers a group of friends, all with different skills and from different elf clans and not only does he discover his own inner strength but the strength of friendship and trust.

Loved the world building and strange creatures that inhabit the world and was kept on edge throughout the book as to what was going to happen next, laugh out loud at times and really sad at others.

It was also a warm and honest look at a child who has seizures and how they felt and how they made him feel and I’m sure this will be developed further in the next book. The best part of this is that it didn’t feel tacked on and felt as though it was part of the main theme of memory and what we all take for granted and how that would feel if taken away.

Overall a great magical adventure with great potential.

I received this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Missing You

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Phellip Willian, illus. Melissa Garabeli, trans. Fabio Ramos. Oni Press. (120p) ISBN: 9781637152072
Missing You

Missing You

I picked this up at the same time as Tiny Fox and Great Boar without realising what either were about I was just drawn in by the wonderful art on the covers.

I also didn’t realise at the time that both were from Oni Press.

Reading a second book about family, loss, grief, and growth in as many days may have been a bit too much, but these were so well presented and thought out that it really wasn’t.

Missing You is about a young family who have lost their mother/wife and in the case of grandma, daughter.

As the young family are driving through a forest they come across an injured fawn which they take home and into their hearts to fill that gap.

Lion (the fawn) also grows and has their own thoughts and desires which don’t always mesh with those of the family and it is this tension which comes to a head that drives the conclusion of the story.

The art work throughout uses a soft, almost pastel palette for most of the book, except there are some dark and threatening passages that are enhanced by the appropriate palette.

Sweet, humorous, and supportive. Well written and drawn and suitable for a larger age range than to 8-12 suggested.

I received this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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