Review by Booklist Review
In spare, somewhat philosophical text, comes a story of a girl who feels invisible to her parents, who are absorbed in their phone and computer. They don't even notice their daughter--pale, white skin, angrily angled eyebrows--bundled up with a backpack and bedroll. So off she goes into the wooded hills behind her house. It's unclear whether she's running away to a favorite spot or simply venturing there on her own, but the fact that she camps there overnight implies the former. The girl is befriended by a fox, which keeps her company the following day as her path opens to the seaside. She is just as she is about to share a family photo with her furry companion when, happily, the girl's parents appear over a nearby hill. Levi's muted watercolors have a folk-art quality that suits this simple, down-to-earth story. While it's hard to swallow that the girl's parents arrive without worry or reprimand, the story offers a nice reminder to appreciate the people and the world around you.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
A quiet journey of independence starts in a house where two adults are seen immersed in desk work. A frustrated pale-skinned child in a striped cap and laced-up boots stands bundled up for an outing, and leaves a note for the adults to find. "Sometimes I feel invisible to the world," begins the narrative, "so I go to my favorite place where every tree and every bush is familiar." In the woods, the protagonist steps across a stream, then sees a fox dart across the path. As the sun sets, the child spreads out a mat, then a sleeping bag. After dark, Levi (A Little Courage) paints the narrator gazing up at the sky, eyes wide, cap still on: "The night feels so vast and endless, and I feel so small." But the fox reappears, and dawn holds an affirming surprise, then a happy reunion at a favorite spot by the sea. Levi's rhythmic watercolor spreads carry most of the story's emotion. The graceful curves of trees waving in the wind, the gold of the grass, and the russet of the fox testify to ways that solitude can give sustenance when people can't, and offers refuge until they can. Ages 4--8. (Feb.)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2--This beautifully illustrated picture book tells the story of a young white child who feels invisible to her family; they are seemingly too busy on their devices to pay much attention to her. She takes to the great outdoors, where she sleeps among the creatures, and wakes up face to face with a friendly fox. As she settles down to look at a photograph of her family, they hike toward her, joining her by the sea. Sadly, there may be many children feeling like the heroine. But the journey of discovery, followed by an uplifting ending, will make young listeners and readers smile. The illustrations gently add visual cues to the spare telling. VERDICT Young children will love the setting, animals, and adventure in this reasonable addition to most shelves.--Betsy Davison, formerly at Homer Central H.S., NY
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Review by Horn Book Review
Dad is on his computer, Mom is on the phone, and a little girl stands scowling in a doorway, wearing a coat and hat and a backpack with a rolled-up mat. Leaving an envelope on a cabinet, she slips out the door: "Sometimes I feel invisible to the world, so I go to my favorite place..." She walks over a hill, uses steppingstones to cross a stream, and enters a forest. She catches a glimpse of a fox, who disappears as the shadows get longer. "Everything looks different in the dark," she says, unrolling her mat and taking out a sleeping bag, "but I have come prepared." Each of Levi's delicate pencil and watercolor illustrations is set on a white page inside a rectangle with rounded edges, giving the pictures a cozy, safe feel. The fox emerges after the child falls asleep, and in the morning when she awakes she finds it curled up at the foot of her sleeping bag, "shy yet curious, just like me. Perhaps I am not invisible after all?" Continuing to the sea, on a high cliff, she shows the fox a snapshot of her "favorite people" -- her parents -- who then appear over the hill to bring the child safely home. Keen-eyed viewers may have spotted the girl's drawing taped to the cabinet at the beginning, making them wonder, Is there really a fox, or is she pretending? The highly relatable feeling of being invisible, the little girl's independence, and the loving conclusion all add up to a satisfying picture book. Susan Dove Lempke May/June 2021 p.113(c) Copyright 2021. 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 bored kid's uneventful participation in the childhood tradition of running away. When a nameless early-elementary-age child feels "invisible to the world"--chiefly to her caregivers, busy with phones and computers in a dim, gray indoor space--the kid dons boots, stocking cap, and a bulky orange coat to go to "my favorite place," leaving a note by the door. Soft-looking watercolor panels delineate the journey through a lightly wooded area, the child enjoying the apparent familiarity of the bushes, trees, and woodland creatures with whom they cross paths as the sun sets. Sparse, uninspired text ("things appear … / … and disappear") accompanies and ultimately distracts from the well-executed storytelling present in Levi's illustrations. The story's intended climax seems to be the narrator's discovery of a red fox that curls up at the foot of the sleeping bag, but with minimal expressions on both faces and a single line of text acknowledging the event, any emotions such an event might instill are dampened. The narrator and the fox walk to the seaside, where the child is joined by not-so-inattentive caregivers, and the three humans leave without the fox, who remains mindfully enjoying the view. Bland writing in this Swiss-German import detracts from sweet illustrations, creating an uncompelling single read. (Picture book. 4-6) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
