Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
This joyful prose poem by Handy (The Book from Far Away), illustrated with playful, hand-lettered spreads by Corrin (Mary Can!), approaches gratitude in an unexpected way: by considering the space that beloved entities might leave behind. "What if one day.../ all the birds flew away?" wonders a child portrayed with brown skin. "Skies would be plainer" (a lone hand and baseball are seen in the sky); "worms could relax" (a worm lounges in a lawn chair wearing sunglasses). A page turn later, a spread bursts with wings and avian beings in flight: "But there are BIRDS!" More sequences propose and provoke, inquiring about a world absent of a given thing--water, plants, nighttime, insects--and then affirming that thing's empirical existence. Following "What if one day...// all the colors faded away?" the revelation of a rich reality bursts forth in rainbow shades: "But there are COLORS!" Final pages ask whether there's something missing from the world that hasn't yet been thought up, prompting, "What would you dream of?" Upbeat, sunny, and philosophically creative, these lines leave behind a sense of startled freshness that mimics the relief of having a bad dream, and waking up from it. Ages 5--8. (Sept.)
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Review by Horn Book Review
This playful and introspective book asks readers to ponder what the world would be like if things taken for granted disappeared. What if "all the birds flew away"? What if "all the water disappeared"? What if "the sun never set"? Handy presents eight of these scenarios, each one imaginatively exploring what might happen in Corrin's energetic, full-bleed illustrations dominated by vivid ambers. If the birds flew away, for instance, skies would be "plainer." There's much humor here too. If the birds did indeed fly away, worms could take it easy -- Corrin's illustration depicts worms lounging on beach chairs and reading books -- and if all the water disappeared, soap would fail to work. (The absence of color results in some humorous crayon names: "Dirty Snow" and "Deepening Gloom.") The text succeeds on many levels; children are subtly prompted to consider the effects of climate change (if there were no more people, nature "could relax") yet to also ponder our creative contributions ("there would be no more music or art or stories or dancing"). Each scenario concludes with an exuberant statement in the affirmative to enthusiastically remind readers of the delights of their planet: "But there is WATER!" and "But there are COLORS!" The pitch-perfect ending invites discovery, asking us to contemplate the "something" missing "because it hadn't been dreamt of yet." Julie DanielsonNovember/December 2023 p.59 (c) Copyright 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
Handy's latest picture book explores what might happen should different parts of our world suddenly be erased. "What if one day…all the birds flew away?" Or if "all the water disappeared?" How about if there were no plants or colors or people? This text gets readers thinking about aspects of our world that can easily be taken for granted. It offers some gentle consequences, like worms relaxing in birds' absence, before pivoting to ask readers to imagine what might be missing one day "because it hadn't been dreamt of yet." The well-intended attempt at encouraging readers' thoughtfulness is undermined by some oversights. Namely, for many readers, such as those who live in areas threatened by climate change and deforestation or without access to clean water, these are not what-if scenarios; they are current or looming realities that are dismissed each time Handy insists "but there is water" or "but there are birds." The book's conceit--calling upon children to use their imaginations to envision how the world might look--is promising, but instead of empowering readers to create meaning for themselves, the text gets more muddled the closer they look. Depicting racially diverse characters, Corrin's full, vibrant spreads convey movement and stillness, humor and pensiveness, hitting just the right visual tones, but the writing doesn't quite manage to live up to the artwork. Readers will need to mind the gap between this book's premise and what it actually delivers. (Picture book. 3-7) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
