(1) K-3 Picture books about imaginary play can be belabored or overly precious. Not so Blackall's brilliantly constructed latest. The opening setting is a living room (just a suggestion of one -- we mostly see an ocean-colored rug). Here we meet a child gathering items needed for a pretend sea voyage while an adult vacuums. As the child exhorts the adult to join in, we begin to see intimations of the coming seascape: the cat, poking its head under the rug, creates swelling waves; patterned pillows evoke shark fins; etc. Then, with a page-turn, we are plunged into the book's make-believe world -- child and adult aboard a fully rigged multi-masted schooner on the high seas, about to encounter a storm (and sharks!). The mixed-media and digital illustrations are alternately gorgeous and rich in character and humor. For example, on one spread the adult's cell phone rings ("blah blah blah..."), temporarily returning us to real life ("we are in the doldrums," bemoans the discouraged child). Blackall excels at setting the stage for the imaginary play with one-to-one equivalents (the vacuum, with its long cord, easily transforms into a giant squid; a paper-towel roll becomes a spyglass) and then making us forget all that, immersing us in the book's imaginary world, wholly capturing the experience of imaginary play. "ANCHORS...AWEIGH!" Glossary of sailing terms included.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2024

(2) K-3 A horse-obsessed child imagines all the things they could do if they were a horse. "I could go anywhere I want, and I'd come home when I was hungry." The earnest text is about a young person's desire to have more control over their life, while Blackall's fanciful mixed-media illustrations insert a brown and white dappled horse into a child's world. We see the horse wearing goggles jumping into a pool at a swim meet ("and everyone would want me on their team") and clad in a party hat and tutu marching through the living room ("I wouldn't wear clothes, unless I was in a PARADE"). While the text is restrained, the illustrations are detailed and nuanced: a water hose is abandoned on the lawn, a knitting bag sits on the floor, and a plunger appears next to the toilet. Pictures of horses on the child’s bedroom wall help explain that particular choice of metaphor, and there are hints of the narrator's special bond with their younger sister. There's a sensitive heart and sharp eye in the humor here, creating a book that is good for more than just a laugh.

Reviewer: Adrienne L. Pettinelli | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2023

(1) K-3 Blackall brings herself and her artistic process into this (imagined) story of twelve siblings who grow up in a real-life farmhouse that was situated on a property Blackall owns. The text is one long sentence with the cadence of a chant, giving the story a propulsive feeling while the family goes about the many repetitive chores required to keep a large household running in a time before electricity. Blackall's illustrations are everything here, incorporating wallpaper, fabrics, and other items scavenged from the house melded together with ink, watercolor, gouache, and colored pencil to create vibrantly layered compositions with a tactile quality. Landscape spreads echo the curves and patterns of Virginia Lee Burton's similarly themed classic The Little House, and interiors are depicted in cross-sections, as if readers are peeking inside a dollhouse. Eventually the children grow up and move away; the house, now empty, deteriorates, and new life--raccoons, a tree, a bear--moves in. Blackall devotes the last few pages to her own discovery and exploration of the dilapidated structure and how she created the art that shapes this story of a place "where twelve children were born and raised...where they'll live on, now, in this book that you hold, like your stories will, so long as they're told."

Reviewer: Adrienne L. Pettinelli | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2022

(2) K-3 This entertaining tale is a tribute to animal rescue shelters--and to literacy. The narrator is in the midst of an intense campaign to get a cat; we read that there have been 427 days of fervent pleas. The boy agrees to conditions--including a commitment to reading daily, even though reading is a challenge--and is allowed to choose a cat from the shelter. Max turns out to be aloof and troublesome. But just as the family is about to return this "negative" cat to the shelter, the narrator unlocks the key to Max's affection: reading to him. Later, the boy comes to the shelter to read to all the cats, and then his entire class does, too. The many eye-catching details in Blackall's fine-lined illustrations invite close inspection; for instance, readers will notice the narrator's mother sharing Wenzel's They All Saw a Cat at bedtime, and later Max becomes enthralled with Gág's Millions of Cats. Blackall expertly captures body language and extracts a lot of humor from the surly cat, especially when comparing him to the animated pet-owner: we see the child attempt to connect ("I tell him all my best jokes. He doesn't even smile"); the cat is shown with his back to readers, staring at the wall or rudely putting his tail in a stick of butter. As a result, it's immensely rewarding to see the connection that occurs when the boy starts to read (and to enjoy it!) and Max crawls closer to cuddle. A positive and satisfying tale.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2022

(1) K-3 Quinn, a small child in a red gnome hat, writes a letter to potential visitors to our planet to explain to them what we're about: our location in the universe, our geography, our natural world, and the varied ways we humans manage housing, clothing, transportation, family life, and getting along. It's a promising (and ­idealistic) premise, and Blackall deftly captures the approach and tone of a child writer. "Fish can swim but they can't walk. Most animals can walk or swim or gallop or hop, but they can't fly. Some birds can swim and walk and fly, so if I had to choose, I'd be a bird." The true delight of the book, however, lies in its stunning illustrations. Each page features a dynamic, energetic composition, a wealth of precise detail arranged in unexpected ways. For instance, a flock of various birds forms the shape of a single bird if you squint. There are games to play, from finding Quinn in the crowd to recognizing some famous people among the field of folk that Blackall portrays (Ella Fitzgerald, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Carla Hayden, to name a few). The robust subtext is diversity in all the usual areas as well as quirkier ones, such as all the different ways humans can arrange our legs to sit comfortably on a picnic blanket. Sweet, funny, moving, timely, and beautiful.

Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2020

(2) K-3 This tall, narrow picture book opens as a new keeper arrives to take up his duties at a remote lighthouse; it ends with his departure, automation having made his job obsolete. In between we are treated to a series of snapshots of lighthouse-keeper life--a mix of routine and excitement. Blackall's gorgeous illustrations provide both homey detail and spectacular scenery. An extensive and lively author's note is appended.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2018

(1) PS After learning he's going to be a big brother, a boy asks various grownups (babysitter, teacher, grandfather) where babies come from. At bedtime, Mom and Dad provide a very basic, concise explanation. Blackall's text is straightforward, calm, and reassuring. Her Chinese-ink and watercolor illustrations feature cherubic, rosy-cheeked, cute-as-a-button babies of different ethnicities. An appended page provides suggestions for adults addressing the same question.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2014

(2) K-3 A boy pries open his mom's eye at the ungodly hour of 4:00 a.m. What follows are amusing questions and answers between the two. The text is entirely dialogue; eventually the speech bubbles hold pictures instead of words. Adults will find the book true-to-life, while kids may recognize themselves in Blackall's pictures of the boy romping, sitting on mom, then snuggling up.

Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2011