Review by Booklist Review
How do Grandma and her grandchild "see" each other when they are far apart? This book uses clever cutouts to show how this amazing feat can be accomplished. The child imagines hopping on a rocket, strapping on a jet pack, or catapulting though the sky. But school, soccer, parents' jobs, and money produce obstacles. How about sending letters and pictures, or phone calls? Better yet is a computer screen! Cutouts reveal the child's new glasses, polka-dot socks, and bottle cap collection, as well as grandma's room and flowers, and even the cat. But hugging is much better in person--the final window opens to show grandma and child together in the same happy place. Full-page illustrations in bright colors are overlaid with black-lined drawings of both characters' busy activities. The simple text will resonant with any child missing a loved one far away. The fun in peeking through the holes and then turning the page to reveal the picture will keep kids guessing what's next.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
A child's creative musings about ways to stay connected with a long-distance grandparent propel this contemporary narrative, which cleverly uses die-cuts to provide a peek-a-boo effect. "Maybe I'll mail myself to you," the child proposes, peering through an envelope's opening from the next page, before humorously continuing to riff: "I'd have to flatten myself like a pancake. Or twist up like a pretzel." Working mostly with pencil, crayon, and watercolor, Lee's stylish drawings add humor and whimsy, showing, for example, the black-haired outlines of child and grandparent--whose skin tones change with the shifting bold-colored backgrounds--trying to video-chat without quite fully centering themselves on the computer screen. The repeated refrain "see you someday soon" links the various modes of communication on display until the duo turn "soon" into something even sooner in this playful spin on modern grandparent-child relationships. Ages 3--6. (June)
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Review by Horn Book Review
"Someday soon, I'll see you. Even though you are there. And I am here. So very far apart. I want to see you now, of course. Right this minute." In a childlike first-person text, a young person describes to a loved one the feeling of missing her and yearning for a reunion, touching on imaginative ways of doing so (rocket ships, jetpacks) along with real-life solutions (sending letters back and forth, video chatting). Lee's warmhearted illustrations -- coupled with the book's ingenious design -- provide terrific enhancement to the story line. Frequent die-cuts ("used to show how the characters could be physically closer together through the pages"); variations in background colors; different-size pages; and changes in font, style, size, and text placement help pace the events and offer literal windows into the characters' feelings of impatience, frustration, longing, and love. One particularly timely -- and humorous -- image shows the characters not-quite-centered on their respective computer screens. The end of the book brings unadulterated joy in the form of a tightly held, sunshine-y embrace. While this reassuring picture book is particularly apt for the COVID-19 era, it will be welcomed by anyone suffering separation and seeking comfort. Elissa Gershowitz July/August 2022 p.95(c) Copyright 2022. 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 touching depiction of love across the miles between a grandmother and a grandchild. Miller's first-person text shares the voice of a child longing for their grandmother, who lives far away. Since they don't know when they'll see each other again, they keep in touch via phone calls, video chats, and letters, with the child imagining playful, fantastical ways they might see each other "someday soon." The child even imagines being folded up in an envelope, à la Flat Stanley, to be sent in the mail to their grandmother. The titular refrain is repeated throughout the book, voicing a steady hope despite the uncertain timing of a resolution. Lee's illustrations match the childlike tone of the text, adopting a sketchy, loose, cartoonlike aesthetic, and while drawings are largely made up of figures rendered in black, changing background colors, intraiconic text indicating dialogue, and highlights of color add expressive dimension and visual interest. An added die-cut element enhances the art's play with the concept of seeing someone by offering glimpses of characters' faces between pages. A satisfying resolution arrives to close the book, offering solace to those who have endured long separations from loved ones due to the pandemic and also to anyone whose loved ones live far away. Characters' skin tones vary depending on the color of the page. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Pick up this title someday soon. (Picture book. 2-6) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
