Review by Booklist Review
When Tony and his mom are getting ready for the neighborhood party a fund-raiser for the local animal shelter he gets a flash of inspiration: he'll donate his beloved stuffed animals to the raffle. His mom's reluctant, but he's adamant, and with all his toys in tow, they head to the party. During the raffle, Tony falls for a sleepy gray cat, Valentine, and after the party, he misses his stuffed animal friends. Danowski's quiet, lovely story of generosity is beautifully outshone by her stunning, luminous illustrations, full of dappled light and textural depth, which resemble soft-focus photographs. Each full-bleed, jewel-toned illustration captures deep meaning in a single moment, thanks to her characters' expressive faces and gestures and the minute, almost casual details. It's as if readers get to steal glimpses of Tony's world, down to the mess of cat food on the floor and the pleasantly jumbled look of a well-loved, lived-in home. Every image exudes warmth, and while the text is perhaps a bit overlong, the captivating artwork makes this worthy of an extended look.--Hunter, Sarah Copyright 2016 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Danowski (Grandma Lives in a Perfume Village) delivers a low-key story distinguished by rich, memorable artwork. A boy named Tony donates all of his stuffed animals to help the fund-raising efforts of a local animal shelter, which succeeds. But that night, he's lonely: "His bed felt empty. Uncomfortably empty. Tony got up and called out, 'Mommy, I can't sleep!' " His mother deals sympathetically with his distress, calling on the help of a cherished stuffed animal of her own; later, a real cat from the shelter comes to live with them. The story is told quite literally, with more telling than showing ("when Anne's dog howled... everybody laughed"), but Danowski's paintings of Tony and his mother are as beautiful as altarpieces, and the rooms they live in are crammed with curious objects that divert and enchant. Dolls and wooden puppets are tucked into the corners, bonsai trees in ceramic vessels grow and twist, flowers bloom, lanterns glow; sometimes the same objects appear again from different angles, creating the sense that these rooms actually exist. Danowski's story soothes and reassures, and her illustrations are treasures. Ages 4-8. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2-This gentle story with a European setting highlights the bonds of parents, children, and pets. Tony lives with his mother and sleeps with a menagerie of stuffed animals. When the local animal shelter needs prizes for their fund-raiser, he happily donates all his toys. But when bedtime comes, he finds himself wide awake and very alone. Attuned to her boy, Tony's mom offers him her own childhood stuffed cat, Paul, and surprises him by adopting Valentine, one of the shelter's cats with whom Tony has built a relationship. The title is derived from a little tune that Tony sings to Valentine; the music and words are presented at the end of the book. Danowski has a gift for rendering the details of domestic life-a toy dinosaur tucked into a bonsai planter, patio plants heavy with cherry tomatoes. Characters are similarly realistic, but with the static effect of having been drawn from photographs. Despite this, Valentine looks soft enough to stroke and Tony's eyes shine with real love and appreciation. The author's stated focus is to use images to preserve human memory, and this tale and its illustrations adeptly help readers make text-to-self connections. VERDICT An old-fashioned offering about community and family. Recommended for larger collections.-Lisa Lehmuller, Paul Cuffee Maritime Charter School, Providence © Copyright 2016. 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.
