Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Spinelli (Thankful) composes a breezy, reassuring ode to the people in children's lives who love them. Her poem moves from family member to family member ("Seasons come and seasons go./ Mama loves you always./ Sometimes rain and sometimes snow./ Mama loves you always"), checking fathers, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and even a family friend off the list. Mixing curving ink lines with warm splashes of watercolor and crayon, British illustrator Flint highlights an array of families in bucolic scenes of play: a girl and her mother toss autumn leaves into the air, a father helps his daughter collect fireflies in a jar, and a grandmother reads to two children snuggled under blankets; most of the families are white, though a few have brown skin. Many scenes simply focus on the children playing on their own, a subtle suggestion, perhaps, that although their families are very present, these kids have room to explore and experience things on their own-support without smothering. Ages 4-7. Author's agency: John Hawkins & Associates. Illustrator's agency: Bright Agency. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Horn Book Review
In a familiar preschool premise, "you" are told that no matter what you do, you are loved by Mama, Daddy, Grandma, Grandpa, etc. The families portrayed are stereotypical, reminiscent of depictions from the 1950s; the sentimental rhymes don't always scan; and the illustrations are washed out and sappy. There are better books about family members loving a child. (c) Copyright 2018. 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
The latest new-baby gift book tells how children are loved by their family members no matter what.Gentle rhyming verses with a nice rhythm and repetition are great for reading aloud, though they can be a bit treacly: "You can giggle, cry, or pout, / but you are loved without a doubt, / upside-down and inside-out! / Mama loves you always." These verses spend some more time on Mama and Daddy before devoting shorter space to Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie, Uncle, Cousin, and Family Friend, (leaving out siblings), covering all the bases but only for those families that fit the "traditional" nuclear-family mold; these days they are increasingly rare. In a move that may be frustrating to readers, many of Flint's watercolor, crayon, ink, and digital illustrations, especially at the beginning, don't show the adorable, pink-cheeked tots interacting with their family members. Instead, they are engaging in an activity, usually alone, in a vignette against a white background. This also serves to point up the lack of diversity in the characters; the vast majority of the children and adults pictured here are white; just two children are black, and one other has brown skin and black hair. (By and large clothing is also stereotyped blue and pink.) It's sweet, but it does not reflect the diverse realities of families and people in the world today. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
