(2) PS Illustrated by Satoshi Kitamura. Creature-of-No-Words is content being "furry. And never in a hurry." The large, ungainly fellow enjoys his life, and although he doesn't "know how to say HAPPY" or "YUMMY" or "SAD" (having no words), he expresses himself through body language. Creature-of-Words, on the other hand, loves to use words; when she sees Creature-of-No-Words looking sad, she reaches toward him with outstretched arms and teaches him the word "HUG!" Creature-of-No-Words has a big red nose, his orange body is filled in with squiggly lines, and he's accompanied by eleven white birds. Creature-of-Words is smaller and redder, with a group of critter companions, including a fox, a cat, a squirrel, and two birds. Part of the book's fun is noticing the ways all of the animals interact in the illustrations. The text is written in triplets with occasional rhymes and includes such whimsical thoughts as the wish that pebbles would "burst like bubbles." Kitamura's paintings use intense color to show the pair living in a varied and beguiling landscape as they find joy together, sometimes sharing words and sometimes cuddled up "just listening to sweet silence." This tender tale illustrates the ways in which creatures, and humans, are alike and different from one another, especially in communication styles.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2024

(2) K-3 Young Clara, her blank expression joyless, has "no one to play with" at the park. She sees an umbrella on the ground, places it on a bench by a tree, and is startled to hear it thank her for the kindness. "I can do much more than that...Look inside me. Anything is possible!" She opens it (who wouldn't?), and a friendly cat comes out -- answering Clara's unspoken wish for companionship. When old Mr. Roberts reaches his arms up to the tree from his wheelchair, remembering how he used to pick apples as a boy, Clara assures him that "anything is possible." She opens the umbrella and out comes..."An elephant?" who helps retrieve apples. Told in the third person by an affable narrator, this offbeat story has humor and heart. Melville's illustrations are especially effective at telegraphing the characters' feelings -- which are just what the umbrella is attuned to. Along with a limited palette of blues, pinkish red, and creamy whites, the art's loose lines are idiosyncratic and expressive. Sneaky Mr. Fox tries demanding that the umbrella make him "rich, rich, rich!"; he gets what he deserves. But the beneficent umbrella also gives him a second chance, making the park "absolutely perfect."

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2024