Review by Booklist Review
In this creative, wordless picture book, Lam (Skunk on a String, 2016) introduces a sad young girl sitting in her bedroom surrounded by moving boxes. Outside, children play in a tree house, but she is too shy to join them. Instead, she picks at her wallpaper, revealing layers that draw her inside, where she passes through a jungle, a pond, and a herd of art-deco sheep. Pursued by a toothy, three-eyed monster, she is frightened until she realizes he is only looking for a friend. Lam's exquisite paper-collage illustrations employ a wide range of patterns and textures and use distinctive color schemes for each imaginary world. Jungle scenes feature green foliage, pink flora, and yellow birds, while the midnight-blue pond is filled with emerald frogs and fuchsia-flowered lily pads. The use of graphic-novel-style panels enables greater story detail, and camouflaged characters from previous layers link past and future scenes. Following a stop on the rainbow layer, the child leaves her fantasies, restored and ready to meet real kids. Satisfying visually, narratively, and emotionally.--Weisman, Kay Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
A girl with brown skin moves into a new neighborhood. Out her window, she sees three children in a tree house, and they wave. But shyness overtakes her, and she hides out in her new room, whose many layers of wallpaper are peeling. In a tour de force of mostly wordless cut-paper art, Lam (Skunk on a String) makes each layer come alive in an extended fantasy sequence. A flock of lemony birds gives way to a tropical forest, where the girl encounters a blobby monster with a toothy, underslung jaw. It pursues her until she realizes that running is futile. "Hello," she greets it bravely; its dejected face lights up. The fantasy ends, and the girl's newfound courage helps her greet her young neighbors with confidence. The subtle three-dimensionality of Lam's paper collages makes the girl appear ready to jump off the page, and lines drawn on the paper provide facial expressions and other embellishments, further clarifying the action. Lam's rich visual storytelling illuminates the way that children's internal lives help them move through loss and anxiety. Ages 4-7. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Horn Book Review
A girl reluctantly moves into a new house. With unpacked boxes piled in her bedroom, she looks out her window and sees neighborhood kids playing in a tree house next door. When they spot her watching them, shyness overcomes the girl, and she retreats. Then, via a small flap where the wallpaper is peeling, bright yellow birds begin to fill her room. She pulls on the flap to reveal a world she enthusiastically enters--one of flora and fauna, where the yellow birds roost. Thus begins her journey through six more layers of wallpaper--and six more patterned and textured worlds to explore, the last one featuring cheery rainbows. Its not all benign, however: shes chased through the layers by a large, pointy-toothed, sharp-clawed, three-eyed creature who initially scares the girl--until she realizes its only looking for friendship. If she can befriend a monster, she seems to decide, she can wave to the children next door. And in the end, she does. Lams paper-collage illustrations provide depth and shadow to the compositions, which are dominated by yellow, green, and rose hues. Many spreads are divided into panels, which accelerate the action without rushing the pace. The monster is rendered with a friendly face so as not to be too frightening for preschool-aged viewers. The mostly wordless storys emotional arc--readers see the girl acclimate to her new surroundings and reach out to make friends--is a satisfying one. julie Danielson (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
An enticing corner of wallpaper on the endpapers serves as a metaphor for turning the first page of this book: Readers will find wonders to discover inside.A brown-skinned, dark-haired girl reluctantly moves to a new home. As she unpacks in her new room, she hears a conversation outside her window. A mixed-race group of kids is playing in a treehouse, but the girl hides when they see her, too shy to say hello. Suddenly, from an upturned corner of wallpaper nearby, a bird peeks out. The girl pulls the paper back, releasing a flock of birds, and steps into a peaceful, colorful, flower-filled world. When a monster arrives with a STOMP, he terrifies the protagonist, who pulls back more wallpaper and escapes into world after world. Their chase leads to an unexpected imaginary friendship inside this magical universeand to the courage to create new, real friendships outside. Paper-collage illustrations lend texture and depth to this fantastical story, with individual elements providing layers so real readers will want to lift them up and peek underneath. Simple shapes (triangles for trees) and careful attention to detail make complex emotions visible and real for young readers. The hand-lettered title adds to the accessibility and childlike qualities of this book.A unique and visually stunning approach to the classic dilemma of making new friends. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
