(2) K-3 Illustrated by Cátia Chien. "Each day starts with the sun." Fogliano (My Best Friend, rev. 3/20) and Chien (The Bear and the Moon, rev. 11/20) use the cycle of a day as a frame for their meditation on existence. Fogliano's prose is at once straightforward and poetic, talking about the routines that make up our days--eating, dressing, playing, whiling away time. Chien's impressionistic pastel and colored-pencil illustrations have a soothing fluidity, but their vibrant colors and textures add a bracing note of contrast. A dream sequence in the middle of the book delves deeply ("and for a little while there / we are all just hearts / beating in the darkness / strong and steady and sure"), and the illustrations follow suit, losing form and taking on a more surreal cast for a few pages. While the text occasionally leans toward New Agey affirmations, Fogliano couches her words in everyday experiences children can understand and even acknowledges loss ("and some things / will die"). Chien's illustrations have an inviting childlike quality in their use of color and in the images and backgrounds, preventing the whole from feeling too highfalutin. Similar in scope and tone to Scanlon and Frazee's All the World (rev. 9/09), this book gives kids something to ponder.

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

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Cátia Chien. In this powerful picture book, readers learn about artist/activist/filmmaker Ai Weiwei, the worldwide refugee crisis, and the effects art can have in shining a light on humanitarian issues. Readers meet Ai Weiwei in contemporary times as he helps a large group of newly arrived refugees in boats landing on a Greek beach. Flashing back, the text relates that his own tumultuous childhood in a 1960s Chinese labor camp was when he started making art using ordinary objects. The book's main focus is on his notable protest artwork, visually referenced on the pages; the story concludes by returning to the plight of current-day "wave riders." Ho's vivid, expressive prose and Chien's bright orange and blue impressionistic pencil and pastel drawings--incorporating waves, life jackets, and documentary photographs--inspire empathy for the refugees, many of whom are young children or families. More straightforward biographical details appear in the back matter; and Ho writes that Ai Weiwei's "art and activism call on us, the citizens of the world, to lift each other up." This book is a good companion read for Ho's Playing at the Border (rev. 9/21) and Gravel's What Is a Refugee?

Reviewer: Michelle Lee | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2023

(2) PS Illustrated by Cátia Chien. A wide-eyed bear--a furry stand-in for toddlers learning to manage strong emotions, as well as readers of all ages dealing with sorrow--spots a red balloon on a string. The smitten bear plays with it, believing that this "small red moon" is a gift from the sky. When he attempts to hug it, the balloon pops. The bear fails to fix it, grieves the loss, and takes the blame: "Bad bear," he thinks. When the shimmering moon rises that night, it speaks: "Good bear. Kind bear. Don't worry, bear." The bear, absolved of his guilt, relies on memories to sustain him, and he dreams of dancing with his departed balloon friend. Burgess's unassuming language is endearing (bear wakes from a "snooze" and gives the balloon "a tour of his whereabouts"), and there are sweet moments of humor ("This is the spot where I sit on the pot," the bear tells the balloon near a waterfall). The pacing is flawless: shortly before it happens, readers anticipate the plot's tragic turn by spotting bear's sharp claws as he lovingly grips his friend. Chien's hazy, atmospheric illustrations, which employ playful perspectives, feature splendid vistas with rich washes of color, though she also knows when to let the bear take the focus in crisp white space. This one packs an emotional punch, and not just for preschoolers: it's about no less than loss, self-forgiveness, and the ways in which memories can serve to mitigate grief.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2020

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Cátia Chien. A turtle living alone in a grim part of the world dreams of "a better home," so he renovates his shell, then adds on top a garden, which calls for houses, and so on. Rendered in acrylic, pencil, and paper collage, many of Chien's abstract compositions are stunning, but with such a marvelously inventive premise, the story would have benefited from easier-to-decipher art.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) PS Illustrated by Catia Chien. This collection of verses follows a child through her day and her environment. The poems--all starting with "Things to do..." and from the perspectives of animals, an acorn, an eraser, the sun, times of day, and more--vary in length and structure, keeping things interesting. Colorful fonts are set against Chien's lush, evocative acrylic illustrations, which make clever use of the poems' imagery.

Reviewer: Miriam Steinberg-Egeth

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Catia Chien. An unusual picture book autobiography, written by an animal scientist who began his lifelong interest in big cats when he found he could communicate more easily with animals than with people due to his stuttering. Rabinowitz's commitment to petitioning for wildlife conservation has helped him communicate more comfortably. This accessible story, with quietly emotive, impressionistic art, will help children understand both concerns.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Catia Chien. A young Jewish slave describes the ten plagues and the Israelites' hurried flight from Egypt in impeccable rhyming couplets. Dark, expansive acrylic illustrations are well matched with the text (some, such as a full-page, open-jawed wolf, may be too intense for very young readers). The concluding spreads, featuring the parting of the Red Sea and a gorgeous sunrise, are a treat. Glos.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith

(2) PS Illustrated by Catia Chien. Some people think of blue as sad, but the little girl narrator says her blue is happy. Her mother finds yellow to be "cheery," but the little girl's yellow is "worried." This is both a celebration of colors and a book about feelings and perceptions, contrasting the ways two people see the same thing. Chien's acrylic paintings fill the pages with intense hues.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2013

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Catia Chien. For orphaned ten-year-old Isabelle, life in Runny Cove is miserable. The weather is unrelentingly dreary, her factory job is grueling, and the proprietor of her boarding house is a miserly scoundrel. Luckily everything changes when she learns of her long-lost family's magic-growing farm. Offbeat characters, shown in black-and-white chapter-opener illustrations, pepper Isabelle's encounters in this light fantasy.

Reviewer: Amanda Mc. MacGregor

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Catia Chien. When a tiny sea serpent unexpectedly drops from the faucet into a little girl's bath water, it seems like a wonderful new friend has come to stay. But little girls and sea serpents grow up quickly, and even good friends have to part sometimes, however reluctantly. Subdued blue and green acrylic and charcoal-pencil illustrations enhance the story's wistfulness.

Reviewer: Cindy Lombardo

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Catia Chien. Boom Broom is coping with the loss of his mother (who disappeared in a tornado) and its effects on his father and sister, who refuse to leave the house. Everything changes, though, after he finds a merbaby and decides to care for it. The quirky premise is hampered by some uneven pacing. Humorous but muddy black-and-white illustrations open each chapter.

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