Review by Booklist Review
Poor narwhal is sad. Her whole life is spent in a fishbowl, looking at the same objects day after day. Red front door. Potted plant. Umbrella stand. Piano. She longs to venture out into the world beyond her small window, but she is afraid. She will get lost, or get cold, and doesn't even have feet to get around. One day, her human friends notice she is glum and come up with a plan. Narwhal's friends carefully place her fishbowl in their little red wagon and take her outside for the first time, showing her the flower shop, the bookstore, and the street signs. The big blue sky is even bigger and bluer than she could have ever dreamed. Once back at home, narwhal makes plans to see the world. Yum's illustrations are rendered in colored pencils and gouache, and make the white, purple-spotted narwhal pretty adorable. Kids will love this tiny little protagonist who dares to dream big.--Camargo, Rosie Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
A boy keeps a small narwhal as a pet in a fishbowl, but she longs to see the world. Intuiting her wistful desire, the boy works with friends (humans, as well as a giraffe, bat, and penguin) to surmount the obstacles and take her around the neighborhood in a wagon. Bravery and cooperation are at the story's heart; Mantchev (Strictly No Elephants) concentrates on the way the friends listen to the narwhal's concerns and how she responds ("If you read the signs to me, I can learn the street names as we go"). Within the story's fantasy world-in which a narwhal can be kept in a fishbowl, and a boy can have animals as friends-these negotiations are rational and fun, too. Yum (A Piece of Home) brings all of this to life with plenty of color and lively action, using distortion to distinguish the narwhal's perspective from inside the bowl. Mantchev's tale also implies that some friends have physical conditions that make help from others necessary-good for post-readaloud discussion. Ages 4-8. Author's agent: Laura Rennert, Andrea Brown Literary. Illustrator's agent: Sean McCarthy, Sean McCarthy Literary. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-The little narwhal from Strictly No Elephants gets her own story and it starts out relatively short. "The world doesn't look very exciting from inside a fishbowl. Red front door. Potted plant. Umbrella stand. Piano." Repeat. However, she dreams of seeing the big, wide world beyond her fishbowl. If only she had feet! One day, her boy brings home his friends and their pets, and together they come up with a plan to make the little narwhal's dreams come true. As in the first story, there is a sweetness and simplicity to the tiny animal's dilemma and to her friends' solution. The colored pencil and gouache illustrations depict characters with a variety of skin tones; both human and animal faces are wonderfully expressive. VERDICT Equally good as a stand-alone or for fans of the first book.-Kelly Roth, Bartow County Public Library, Cartersville, GA © Copyright 2017. 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
This fanciful picture book begins with a goldfish-sized narwhal languishing in the confines of a fishbowl. When her young owner notices his pet gazing longingly out the window (The view doesnt change much, but little narwhals who live in fishbowls have a lot of dreams), he becomes concerned and calls up some friends to come over to cheer her up. Three children arrive, accompanied by their own unusual pets--giraffe, penguin, and bat. The animals and children decide to take the narwhal on a little adventure and put her bowl into a red wagon for a walk to town. Throughout, Yums cheery colored-pencil and gouache palette allows the cartoon-style illustrations a levity that mitigates any sense of tragic captivity, but text and art combine to establish the limitations on the narwhals outlook; one spread adopts a skewed, rounded visual perspective that emulates the narwhals point of view, which supports the readers sympathy for her plight. Although Mantchev eschews a Free Willy sort of ending, returning the narwhal in her bowl back to the house with the boy, the story culminates with a clever means of bringing broader glimpses of the world inside for her to enjoy. megan dowd lambert (c) Copyright 2017. 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
A tiny narwhal dreams of seeing the world beyond her fishbowl.The little white narwhal's entire universe seems to be an endless circle: the red front door, potted plant, umbrella stand, piano, and back to the red front door. She wants to travel, but she is worried about obstacles. She can't walk, is afraid of getting lost, and doesn't want to get cold. The little white boy who lives outside the bowl sympathizes. His diverse group of friends and their accompanying animalsa penguin, a giraffe, and a batare eager to help. They come up with a plan to wheel her through the neighborhood in a little red wagon, and off they go. She is thrilled with everything she sees, especially travel posters that hint of an even wider world. Mantchev keeps the tone simple and innocent, filled with wonder. The friends, both human and animal, are kind and encouraging in words and deeds. Yum's childlike, softly hued, colored-pencil-and-gouache drawings complement the sweetness of the tale, and her animals more closely resemble cuddly toys than their real-life counterparts. However it is the central premise of the narwhal in a fishbowl that is problematic. That very tiny, cute creature is so far from the reality (5 feet long and 200 pounds at birth, with grayish-brown coloring) as to severely compromise the suspension of disbelief. The tender, kind friendship outweighs the flaws. (Picture book. 3-5) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
