The word "parent" is not just a noun. It's also a verb.
In this engaging book, filled with artful, amusing, alliteration, Genhart weaves a tale of inclusion and exclusion using different birds to bring out assumptions about a group that is new to the neighborhood. Each bird type, begging to be read in a different voice/accent (you and the kid will have more fun that way), finds a different reason to exclude, fear, mistrust the flamboyance.
Gloria makes yummy porridge and refuses to give any to her cat. Her cat, of course, ends up eating all of it. When Gloria finds out, she chases the cat with a spoon. The cat, jumps on a donkey. The donkey starts a ruckus, disturbing a tree that unsettles some bees . . . .
And so on . . . .
“But where is the prince,” my son asked at the end of the story. “There isn’t one,” we answered. And so began the discussion at the end of Woolvin’s Rapunzel, an empowering take on the traditional damsel in distress story we’ve all heard (and told) over the years. In this Rapunzel, Rapunzel doesn’t need saving. She figures everything out, all on her own.
Regular Bookshelf readers understand that I have become a softy over the years and that, even though I’m somewhat jaded in real-life, a good picture book can get the waterworks flowing–especially when I’m blindsided by a suckerpunch ending. And, although I should have seen this one coming, I didn’t; and, this one hit me in all the feels.
Argentinian author/illustrator Gusti Rosemffet hits the comical sweet spot with this, his hysterical tale of two flies that both lay claim to, you guessed it, the same pile of poop! Poop, being the universal common denominator of humor for children of-a-certain-age, is spread throughout most pages of this sincere, warm-hearted picturebook. [Yes, I know what I just wrote. Lighten up.]
There is a reason why I use this small, Inuit-owned, publisher as a reliable go-to for birthday gifts. Inhabit Media is a wonderful resources for developmentally appropriate, fun, accessible, stories that you would not otherwise find in the “big” publishing houses. Little Moar and the Moon is one such example.
This story was nostalgic and sweet. Growing up in Kenya going to everyone’s houses when they were celebrating a holiday, not of your faith, was a particularly fun thing! I remember celebrating Eid, Vaisakhi, and Christmas, with our Muslim, Sikh, and Christian friends, and in turn, having them celebrate Diwali and various other holidays with us. It was a great reminder that for centuries Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, etc. have lived as neighbors in harmony.
This book plays on many levels and handles the difficult themes of inclusion/exclusion, friendship, otherness and differences with subtle clarity and dexterity. It is great for children as young as those in PK and could easily teach a lesson to Middle Schoolers.
From the end pages, done in whimsical egg motifs, through the meticulously delineated chickens in every spread, this book is a joy to look at, and read.