Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In illustrator Doerrfeld's (Welcome to Your World, Baby!) authorial debut, Penny is supremely confident in her predilection for a certain hue: "I love everything pink! I think I'd even love a pink monster!" But readers will note that while she's all caught up in her litany of faves ("I love pink cotton candy... pink ice cream... and riding my pink bike past pink flowers"), there's an unmentioned but obvious storm cloud on that pink horizon: her mother is on the verge of delivering a new sibling. And when that baby brother becomes a reality, Penny's world turns a melancholy blue-until she realizes that little Parker is pretty darn pink himself. The plot twist lends needed depth to a familiar ode to all things pink; Doerrfeld's turning-lemonade-into-lemons concept neatly inverts typical displacement themes. And while her ultragirly drawing style (Penny could easily be a distant cousin of Strawberry Shortcake) and premise do little to challenge the idea that pink is for girls and blue is for boys, a final scene has the siblings making snow angels-and wearing a bit of both colors. Ages 3-6. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-K-Everything Penny owns is pink: her sunglasses, shoes, toys, bike, and potty. She also enjoys eating pink cotton candy and ice cream. She imagines a world in which everything is her favorite color, including trees, birds, dogs, cats, and even a monster. This illusion is shattered when her parents announce that she has a new baby brother. Penny is disappointed at first, since "boys are blue," and her entire world turns that color. But as soon as she meets her sibling, she discovers that there is one thing she loves more than her favorite color. The illustrations are bright and lively, dominated by pink on the early pages, followed briefly by those of nearly monochromatic blue. A sweet, satisfying story.-Donna Atmur, Los Angeles Public Library (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Penny loves everything pink, from her clothes to her bike. While proclaiming her passion for pink, hints of blue appear throughout the pink-saturated illustrations, signaling an impending shift. When baby Parker appears--"No! No! No! Boys are BLUE!"--Penny, despite herself, falls for her smiley, rosy-skinned baby brother. A satisfying final spread shows the pair clad in both colors. (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Penny proclaims her love for all things pink through most of this cotton-candysweet tale. She loves pink clothes, pink sunglasses, pink food, her pink potty and pink flowers. The illustrations are every imaginable shade of pink. Gradually, however, some blue elements are introduced, including a blue balloon and blue baby clothes. Penny remains blissfully unaware of the blue disturbance until, on a two-page spread entirely in blue, her parents announce the arrival of her new baby brother. Penny is initially unhappy about this intrusion, but once she meets Parker, she decides that she loves him even more than she loves pink. Any usefulness as a new-sibling story is undermined by its uncritical bifurcation of the world into pink/girls and blue/boys. For better new-sibling books, tryThere's Going to Be a Baby, by John Burningham and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, orPecan Pie Baby, by Jacqueline Woodson and illustrated by Sophie Blackall (both 2010), instead. To open up a girl's sense of possibility, getNot All Princesses Dress in Pink, byJane Yolen and Heidi E.Y. Stemple and illustrated by Sophie Lanquetin (2010).(Picture book. 3-6)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
