Balloon

After a bright orange balloon escapes its young owner's grasp amid a flock of pigeons, the brown-skinned child spies evidence of the orb everywhere. With mere punctuation--an exclamation point, an ellipsis, then a question mark each follow the repeating titular word--Handy (There Was a Shadow) effectively establishes the book's simple conceit. Drawings by Kwon (I'm Sorry You Got Mad) visualize the bulk of the largely wordless story, aptly conveying hints of the escaped object as its owner glimpses beckoning round, orange objects across New York City. The digitally colored pen-and-ink artwork has a light and sunny quality that helps foreground varied, half-hidden tangerine-hued objects that supply child and reader alike with an opportunity to guess each object before a page-turn reveal. When the protagonist at last spots something that raises their hopes, their eyes go saucer-like, and an abundance of orange objects, from hula hoops to marigolds, fill a spread. Concluding scenes that show the source of excitement offer a tender close that comes full circle with a single line of dialogue--underscoring the book's subtle emotional arc and sweetly honoring the child's initial loss. Background characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 3--5. (Oct.)

Featuring just a single word throughout, Handy's latest picture book centers on a small boy with big feelings about his new balloon. A Black adult and a toddler--presumably parent and son--are strolling through an unmistakable Central Park; he's delighted by the orange balloon ("Balloon!") that he's just gotten from a park vendor. During an altercation with a pigeon, the boy involuntarily lets go of the balloon's string and watches his treasured memento float away ("Balloon…"). As he and his parent continue their walk, the boy keeps mistakenly spotting his beloved possession ("Balloon?"): in an assembled crowd (the orange object is really a musician's beanie), peeking out from behind some park denizens' blanket (it's actually an orange Frisbee), and so on. The last time the boy thinks he spies his balloon, it turns out to be the curved back of an orange kitten at a pet-adoption event. He accepts the kitty as a salve for his balloon-pining heart--his persistence has paid off!--but his loyalty compels him to honor his lost keepsake: "Balloon. That's your name," he tells the cat. Handy has nimbly blended a sweet story tailor-made for the tenderhearted with a Where's Waldo?--esque activity suited to more fidgety types. Working with digitally tweaked pen and ink in blooming springtime colors, Kwon inserts the book's visual game into invitingly bustling scenes that give the big city the feel of a communal gathering. Handy's few words speak volumes. (author's note)(Picture book. 3-5) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.