Review by New York Times Review
ADULTS LUG AROUND a five-piece Samsonite luggage set of love and intimacy issues, but most small children have none, or at the most, a carry-on. They are unencumbered by personal history, commitment issues or self-doubt. They just love. Four new valentines disguised as picture books examine age-appropriate love affairs of every stripe: from high-rise-dwelling kids to urban polar bears, from worms to an ink drop and a snowflake. Urbanites will understand true love's obstacle in David Teague and Antoinette Portis's "The Red Hat": the wind that whips through a city's upper stratosphere of apartments and penthouses. Apparently it doesn't menace only flimsy terrace furniture and small barbecue grills, but potential friendships as well. The wind also seems to have blown away any unnecessary visual fussiness in Portis's charming illustration style, which depicts just the right amount of detail and drama with its bold lines and limited color palette. Our hero, Billy Hightower, lives "atop the world's tallest building," high above rain and clouds, but not high enough to escape the fierce wind and a sense of loneliness. A skyscraper rises across the way, and so does Billy's hope of finding a friend when he spots a solitary girl wearing a red hat on the building's roof. Rather than fighting his adversary the wind, cleverly represented by Portis as swirling laminated lines, almost invisible over the art and text, Billy tries to use it to connect with the girl. He misfires several times, ultimately failing big-time and being swept all the way to the ground. Billy is down, but he's not out, and in Teague and Portis's simple universe, a friendship is born. Alessandro Gatti and Pierdomenico Baccalario's "The Story of Snowflake and Inkdrop" may not be about humans, but the journey of these two unlikely soul mates is deeply rooted in humanity. The book's clever design allows the reader to choose which solitary expedition to follow first - Snowflake's or Inkdrop's - with two front covers and two stories that connect in the middle. Simona Mulazzani's lush illustrations take the reader to two distinctly different worlds: inside an artist's art-filled studio, where a drop of ink waits patiently to be put to use, and outside to a serene snow-blanketed town, where a snowflake wonders where it will land. Both worlds are colorful and lovely and enhance the protagonists' desire to fling themselves into the unknown in order to find love. This tale is punctuated with several diecut pages of geometric snowflakes and organic ink-drop shapes. Text, illustration and design culminate harmoniously in the center of the book to elevate this unlikely love affair. Gender roles are imposed on us all. As adults, we mostly accept, rail against, or at least acknowledge them, but as far as the youngest of lovers are concerned, the point is moot. J.J. Austrian and Mike Curato's "Worm Loves Worm," in which two worms of the hermaphroditic variety fall in love, brilliantly explores the idea of love between two beings, regardless of gender (or species) and despite societal pressures. Curato's spare but sure silhouetted images and Austrian's straightforward text are a perfect match to deliver the simple story of two characters who just want to declare their love and commit to each other. With patience and good cheer they accept the various matrimonial trappings offered to them by their well-meaning insect friends, like a wedding party, a cake and rings - even though they have no fingers. The all-embracing spirit of the story is best represented by the worm couple's lack of regard for traditional wedding garb: Each wears bits and pieces of a tuxedo and a wedding dress during the ceremony. Caron Levis and Charles Santoso tackle the sadness that ultimately comes with love in "Ida, Always." Inspired by two real-life polar bears, Gus and Ida, who were residents of New York City's Central Park Zoo, this wonderful story about the loss of a loved one is beautifully told. It's an example of children's books at their best. Santoso's dense, luscious paintings give the couple a solid, reassuring world to live in, which changes in tone and hue according to the characters' emotional state throughout the story. The bears live an idyllic life, playing ball, splashing in the water and sleeping. But their favorite shared experience is sitting on their beloved rock listening to the sounds of the city, something Ida calls "the city's heartbeat." One day Ida doesn't come out of her cave. Gus at first is bored, then confused, and finally hysterical, after Sonya the zookeeper explains that Ida is so sick she will soon die. Together Gus and Ida stomp, snarl and howl against Ida's fate, until they arrive at acceptance. The rest of the story follows Ida's last days, which are filled with not only grief but affection, humor and some "fishy treats." The zoo's visitors mourn Ida's passing, but no one feels the loss more than Gus. The city moves on, and Gus does too, although his life is different. He still plays ball, splashes in the water and sits on their rock listening to the city's heartbeat, but he does it alone. He has known love, but experienced its hardest aspect. Your lover may not live forever, but if you're lucky, their love will live on in your heart. This is a difficult story to tell for both children and adults, but "Ida, Always" does it with simplicity and grace. DAN YACCARINO'S picture books include "Every Friday" and "Unlovable." He is the creator of the animated TV series "Oswald" and "Willa's Wild Life."
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [February 7, 2016]
Review by Booklist Review
Billy Hightower lives in a building so tall that the wind is his only companion. One day, a new structure arises nearby, and across the rooftops, Billy notices a girl in a red hat and begins a quest to meet her. He shouts, sends a note folded into a paper airplane, flies a kite, even tries to parachute over, but all of his efforts are thwarted by the jealous wind. Beautifully designed two-page spreads feature pages textured with glossy raised waves to depict the movement of the wind, and muted tones of black, white, blue, and gray are highlighted by a splash of red in each illustration. Varying visual perspectives emphasize the motion described in the text, shifting Billy and the reader from high to low points and inviting us to follow the wind's swirling progress across the pages. Billy's determination wins over the wind's stubbornness, and although the girl remains somewhat mysterious, the final image shows Billy and the girl together on a roof. Rather sweetly, the text proclaims this as the beginning rather than the end.--Whitehurst, Lucinda Copyright 2016 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
It's not the characters that are the main draw in Teague's (Franklin's Big Dreams) story-it's the wind, which Portis (Wait) represents with sinuous lines (highlighted with transparent spot gloss) overlaid over big expanses of sky. Billy Hightower lives at the very top of "the world's tallest building," and all he has for company is the wind. (Portis shows him on the roof in a red scarf gazing up at the sky, wavy lines swirling across it.) When a high-rise is built close by and a girl in a red hat appears on its roof, Billy tries all kinds of strategies to meet her-a paper airplane, a kite-but the wind foils every attempt. At last the wind carries Billy to her place, though it's not an easy trip (Billy's town seems ready to challenge Chicago for the title of Windy City). The idea of a friend who's close yet far away provides intrigue, as does the puzzle of how to bridge that distance. The glance the two children exchange on the final page, though, suggests not adventure, but romance. Ages 3-5. (Dec.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-A budding friendship takes center stage when a boy is intrigued by a girl he sees from across his rooftop. Billy Hightower tries various techniques to communicate with her, but the wind thwarts his efforts at every turn. He attempts to transport himself by blanket, but the wind carries him away. When all efforts fail, the girl's red hat leads him to her apartment complex, where he realizes a formal introduction may serve him best in connecting to his new friend. The wind itself is a major character within both text and illustrations; with spot-gloss texture, the wind is shown swirling along vast open areas as it carries objects used to emphasize personal relationships throughout this dramatic journey. Thick black outlines accentuate each character. The text changes its placement against the page to reflect a shift in movement; words swoop along like a loop in the sky to follow the shifting perspective. Accents of red are found in various signature elements, such as a kite, hat, scarf, and door, which adds a powerful energy. VERDICT This dynamic, gorgeously rendered glimpse into the fledgling bond between two people demonstrates the power of persistence.-Meg Smith, Cumberland County Public Library, Fayetteville, NC © Copyright 2015. 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
With a nod to Albert Lamorisses film The Red Balloon, and with much of its tenderness, this fable-like story tells of Billy Hightower, whose isolated life atop the worlds tallest building changes when another skyscraper is built alongside it and Billy catches a glimpse of the girl in the red hat. Billy longs to communicate with the girl, but his various attempts fail, repeatedly foiled by the wind. First the wind snatches away Billys words, then it derails his paper-airplane missive. Finally it pulls Billy himself (wrapped in a parachute-like red blanket) off his building and into the sky, and deposits the boy on a noisy, gritty, confusing city street. Undaunted, he finds his way to the girls tower and is united with her. The ever-present antagonist here is the wind, pictured as a glossy, lightly embossed, swirling pattern on each page, a turquoise line against the restrained palette of black, white, taupe, sky-blue, and crimson. Teagues rhythmical and unadorned text is fleshed out by Portiss graphically arresting compositions. The color red, for example, has its own character and plot: the temporary roadblock of a red light, the welcoming red carpet, the subtly recurring shape of a red heart. When this love story ends with the words The Beginning, we believe it. sarah ellis (c) Copyright 2016. 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
Young Billy Hightower lives "atop the world's tallest building." Intent on meeting the girl he spots on a nearby high-rise's roof, he tries several stratagems before achieving his goal. He shouts an introduction, but the wind carries his words off. Ditto for his notes, dispatched via paper airplane and kiteeach lofted beyond the girl's reach. Most daringly, Billy launches himself into the wind, clutching the corners of a billowing red blanket. No luckthe wind not only sweeps him away, but the girl's red hat as well. Deposited on the ground, Billy eyes towering buildings: Portis' dizzying perspective conveys their height. Determinedly trudging against the lashing wind, Billy spies the girl's red hat snagged on shrubbery outside a building called "Crimson Tower." Rushing up, knocking "at the first door on the top floor" Billy finally introduces himself to the girl (who's nameless and nonspeaking throughout). A final spread depicts the pair up on the roof, arms extending shyly along the parapet, below the text's last words: "The Beginning." Portis' crisp compositions pair crayonlike black lines against white, sky blue, red, and gray. The swirling wind appears as raised, shiny lines, sweeping and curling across the cover and many interior spreads. Once Billy's up on the roof with his new friend, though, the wind abates. A simply told, graphically arresting tale. (Picture book. 3-5) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
